


Anything and Everything

by paper_ange



Category: South Park
Genre: M/M, but that angst..., but that tooth-rotting fluff tho, domestic creek!, fluff angst smut oh my!, future diary/mirai nikki au, if you've seen future diary/mirai nikki, most characters and ship tags aren't listed because it's a surprise, smut is scattered throughout, these are just the characters that show up and are named in the first chapter, this story strays heavily from the original, you know there's gonna be so much death
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-08
Updated: 2019-01-29
Packaged: 2019-03-02 02:08:39
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 20
Words: 161,443
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13308156
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/paper_ange/pseuds/paper_ange
Summary: [Future Diary AU] Craig and Tweek have spent the past seven years happily in love, but the voices in Tweek’s head tell him that it won’t last forever. These fears come to life when he is thrust into a game where he, Craig, and ten other players must fight to the death using the power of seeing the future in order to take the throne of the god of the universe. For reasons of their own, each participant is willing to kill for the throne, and now the voices are telling Tweek that he must do everything in his power to protect Craig until the day that they are the last two standing.





	1. The First

**Author's Note:**

> This story keeps most of the character roles and future diaries [police officer, child, etc.], though much of the episode premises and backstories/motives used largely stray from the original, mainly because Tweek and Craig are already together. You don’t have to watch the anime to understand this fic, as much will be explained as the story goes on. I'm also going to do my best to answer as many plot holes and unexplained phenomena from Future Diary as possible.

**09/29/2018 07:30 AM [Tucker Residence, Kitchen]  
**

An hour before he had to leave for school, Tweek shuffled through various cabinets in the kitchen of the Tucker household. He crouches down to open and close several cabinet doors, furrowing his brows and pressing his lips together after every unsuccessful attempt at finding the right-sized frying pan. He pulls out a large one, hums disapprovingly at it, then returns it back where he found it.

After his parents were arrested for selling meth in their coffee, the only reason Tweek was not sent to an orphanage was that Craig managed to convince his parents to take him in and become his legal guardians. Eternally grateful, Tweek had offered to do chores and prepare meals in exchange. Though he had been told not to worry about it, he does so anyway, and he has managed to amaze the family with his cooking skills, despite the mess he always created when doing so.

He tries his best to adjust to the change in housing by memorizing where things are as to not bother anyone with constant silly questions, but this proves to be a challenge for him at the moment. He turns his attention to the couch in the living room, where his boyfriend tunes out a reporter speaking of a serial killer’s next victim on the television by putting his focus on his phone. When Tweek opens his mouth to speak, he is interrupted by the sound of a young girl’s voice.

From the dinner table, Tricia sits on her chair with her knees to her chest and her phone only inches away from her face. “It’s in the dishwasher,” she says. “I was letting it dry.”

“You’re supposed to wipe it with a rag and put it away, you little shit,” Craig calls out from the living room. “He’s trying to figure out where things are to help us, so stop trying to make his life harder.”

“Craig, it’s okay,” Tweek assures, bringing himself to his feet to open the dishwasher. He pulls out a medium-sized pan, coats it in cooking spray, and places it on the stove. “How would you guys like your eggs?”

“Omelette!” the siblings shout in unison, to which they respond by raising an eyebrow at one another.

“Tweek, can you make mine first? I have to leave before you guys,” Tricia explains. “Add chopped ham and cheese.”

“Babe, make mine first because she didn’t say please. “I want bacon and cheese in mine, _please.”_

As he waited for the pan to heat up, he quickly chopped up a section of a block of ham on a cutting board and pushed it into a bowl. He then opened a bag of shredded cheddar and placed it to the side. “Tricia has to leave first, Craig. I’ll get to yours right after, okay?”

“Thank you, Tweek!” Tricia replied in a cute, yet clearly mocking tone before she stuck out her tongue and flipped off Craig with both hands. Craig returned the immature gesture and proceeded to ask his group over text if any of them wanted a little sister.

Tweek shook his head at them with a smile and continued to cook. He had been living with the Tuckers for two years now, and being at such close proximity as his beloved Craig puts him at ease. Being a rather poor family, they didn’t have a guest room for Tweek to call his own, but Craig was more than happy to share his. After a number of rude awakenings from Tweek’s various panic attacks and nightmares, Craig had adjusted to this lifestyle and even learned of different ways to comfort Tweek during these moments. Cuddling and talking things out has never been a part of Craig’s lifestyle, but he found himself doing so more and more throughout the seven years the two had been dating.

During this time, Tweek had fallen harder and harder for Craig. While the two maintained a healthy, stable relationship over the years, Tweek’s mental instability was still present. Voices in his mind speaking of possible negative outcomes of their relationship were common, even if Craig assured the opposite every time. The worst would point out his dependence on Craig for sanity, and they told him that one day, Craig would leave, and that would be the day when his life finally fell apart for good. His life was undeniably better with Craig in it, and he couldn’t bear to see him go after all of this time.

 _Craig loves me,_ he reminded himself. _He loves me, I love him, and we’re happy together._

Though absent-minded at the moment, Tweek managed to complete Tricia’s breakfast without burning it. Tricia hopped out of her seat and ran to Tweek’s side with her arms stretched out.

“The smell was driving me crazy!” Tricia exclaimed with a wide smile as she grabbed the plate and rushing back to the table.

As Tweek started the next dish, Craig made his way over to the kitchen and wrapped his arms around Tweek’s waist. “This one’s mine, right?” he asked, resting his chin on Tweek’s shoulder.

“It might be if you give me space to work,” Tweek giggled. “Do me a favor and grab me the bacon?”

“Of course, babe,” said Craig, who released Tweek to open the refrigerator door.

* * *

 **09/29/2018**   **0** **9:09 AM [South Park High School, Room 102]  
**

As the teacher droned on about the various muscles in the body, Tweek took a quick glance over at Craig’s direction. Determined to do well in school for his astrophysicist dream, Craig concentrated on the lecture, scribbling away in his notebook with the chewed up black pen he had borrowed from Tweek. Quietly, Tweek leaned forward to see the screen of his phone hidden under his desk.

  
**09:10 AM [South Park High School, Room 102]**  
Craig is taking notes with the pen I lent him. I’m proud of him! He’ll do well this year too.

He places the phone faced down onto his lap and glances at Craig again. Still focused on the lecture, Craig pays no mind to Tweek, to his relief. If he was caught writing about Craig again, he would have to face another round of teasing.

In a way, it was kind of like a diary, which started as a way of keeping an eye on Craig. The year before, Craig gotten injured from a reckless shopping cart incident with Clyde, so typing out what Craig was up to in the notes in his phone helped Tweek make sure he had the time and place noted in the event that the information would come in handy later like, say, how long Craig’s wounds went untreated, or when was the last time Craig had eaten anything. After a while, Tweek even included menial things such as Craig sitting and doing nothing just to fill in the ten-minute interval slot.

When Craig found out about this, he laughed. This was no surprise, but Tweek was still insulted, puffing up his cheeks in response.

“That’s pretty stalker-ish, babe,” he would say, but his hearty laughter showed Tweek that he wasn’t bothered by it. “But you know, that wouldn’t be a bad idea for my filmmaking studies.”

Aside from wanting to be an astrophysicist, Craig had a hobby for filmmaking. He took up Tweek’s routine for noting everything Craig did and made his own little observation diary, in which he would type random things he saw or heard every now and then. He claimed that knowing what goes on in everyday life and what people do while idle helps for creating realistic non-dialogue scenes, such as first-person view and long shots of people walking. As someone who preferred things to be nice and boring, this became a good routine for Craig to keep. Sometimes he would share his entries with Tweek, but Tweek was too embarrassed to share his own. While Craig’s entries only listed an event, Tweek’s included commentary. There was bound to be a reaction to, “Craig is taking a nap. He looks cute.” or “Craig flipped off Stan again. He’s so cool!”

Tweek tries to pay attention to the lecture, but he never had an interest in Biology. _Pay attention!_ he screams at himself internally. _If you fail this class, you won’t graduate, and Craig will leave you for being a high school dropout with no degree!_ He pinches the skin on the back of the hand holding one of his chewed-cap pens and stares wide-eyed at the teacher.

A folded piece of notebook paper plops onto his desk, capturing his attention. He looks to Craig, who gives him a thumbs up while he continues to take notes.

“Don’t worry if you’re having trouble focusing. I can lend you my notes, or I can teach you the material later.”

Tweek chews the insides of his cheeks to stop the wide smile from spreading across his face. He flips over his phone again and types a new entry.

 **09:20 AM [South Park High School, Room 102]**  
Craig passed me a note saying that he’ll help me with Anatomy. He’s so sweet!

Craig pulls out his phone during the lull of silence as the teacher searched online for a photo related to the lecture.

 **09:20 AM [South Park High School, Room 102]**  
Tweek is typing about me again.

* * *

**09/29/2018 **12:08 PM [South Park High School, Cafeteria]** **  
****

“Did you guys hear about the serial killer? He was on the news again this morning!” Clyde announced at the lunch table.

Craig raised an eyebrow, vaguely remembering hearing about that on TV earlier. Tweek took a shaky breath and tried to calm himself to listen to what his friends had to say since he was busy making breakfast instead of watching the news. Noting Tweek’s clear discomfort, Craig placed a hand on the arm of Tweek’s that was farthest from him and pulled Tweek close enough for their shoulders to make contact. He rubbed Tweek’s arm slowly, allowing Tweek to relax under his touch.

“The v-v-victim was a wo-- a woman again,” Jimmy noted. “Th-that’s the th-th-th-third time it’s b-b-b-b-been a woman!”

“That’s definitely a pattern,” Token nods, folding his arms over his chest. “What if they’re all women who have broken his heart? Sounds terrifying, but at least I’ll be safe.”

“Even if that’s not the case, it still sounds like the killer mainly goes after women, so we’ll be fine,” Craig assures, facing Tweek. “We’ll be okay, babe.”

Tweek nods and rests his head on Craig’s shoulder, doing his best to let Craig’s words and touch calm his nerves. At times like this, he’s glad to have Craig around to bring his worries to a halt, even just temporarily.

“Are you sure about that?” Kyle chimes in, sitting a few seats down from the group. “He might just be making you think that so you’d let your guard down.”

“Oh, that’s a good point, Kyle!” Kenny agrees with his never faltering grin. “You can never be too careful!”

Tweek yelps in response, causing Craig to hold him close and glare at Kyle and Kenny.

“Hey, don’t be like that,” says Stan. “They’re just saying that you guys should keep a lookout. Travel in groups or whatever.”

“Gee, fellas… Now you’re starting to freak me out a little bit,” Butters mumbles to himself, though it’s loud enough for those close by to hear. Kenny pats Butters’ shoulder in assurance.

During the chatter, Tweek and Craig both pull out their phones for their next entry.

 **12:10 PM [South Park High School, Cafeteria]**  
Craig is trying to comfort me while the guys talk about a murderer. I’m scared, but at least Craig is here.

 **12:10 PM [South Park High School, Cafeteria]**  
The guys are talking about the serial killer from the news. Tweek is scared.

“It’s almost scary how in sync you guys are, typing at the same time and all,” Token points out. “Don’t tell me you guys are texting each other. You’re literally right next to each other!”

“Leave them alone! They’re in love!” Clyde exclaims, still gushing over their friends even though he sees this kind of public display of affection from them every day.

“At least th-th-th-things are going well in p-p-paradise,” Jimmy grins.

Stan and Kyle roll their eyes, Butters and Clyde coo in adoration, Token and Jimmy don’t react, and Kenny sits quietly with his usual grin. This was routine for them, something that Craig’s entries contain a lot of. He’s aware of how often he notes this, but for the sake of his studies, he continues to write as many observations per day as possible.

“But seriously, you guys,” Kyle continues. “I’m not saying this to be an asshole or scare anybody. You really should be careful.” He sits upright in his chair and puts all of his attention into finishing his lunch. Everyone else does the same, now questioning their safety as they silently eat their lunch in fear.

Craig places his hands on Tweek’s shoulders and gives him a comforting smile. “Don’t worry. If I see anyone suspicious, I’ll fight them for you.”

“H-huh?! Craig, they’re a serial killer! Don’t risk your life for me! If anything, let me protect _you!”_

“We can defeat them as a team, babe. We’re stronger together, after all.”

“Get a room!” Kenny shouted, earning another glare and an additional middle finger from Craig.

* * *

**09/29/2018 04:19 PM [Shi Tpa Town, Outside]  
**

Like always, Craig and Tweek walked home side by side, their fingers laced together, sharing the warmth from their closeness. Sometimes they would chat about their day, their plans, or their worries, but today they were silent. The lunchtime discussion still lingered in Tweek’s mind, which kept him quiet for the time being, and Craig knew this. Craig didn’t mind the silence, as long as he knew what it was about. There was nothing he could say at the moment that could take Tweek’s worries away, and they were both alright with that.

“Do you want to play video games when we get home?” Craig suddenly spoke up, breaking the silence.

“I have to prepare dinner first, then I have to catch up on Anatomy and Math,” Tweek sighs.

“You wouldn’t have to catch up if you stopped daydreaming about me all the time,” Craig teases, smirking at a puffy-cheeked Tweek while wiggling his eyebrows. “But don’t worry. I promised that I would help you out, remember?”

“Yeah, I remember,” Tweek answered, pulling out his phone. He planned to write about Craig’s teasing until he noticed that Craig had suddenly stopped walking. He looks in the direction that Craig is facing and sees a large German Shepherd sitting patiently outside of the Whole Foods market while tied to a bicycle rack. The dog turns to them for a moment, then continues to face forward. Tweek then watches as Craig notes this in his phone diary.

 **04:24 PM [Shi Tpa Town, Outside]**  
A dog is tied to a bicycle rack outside of the Whole Foods market.

“And about dinner. Mom texted me and said she’s bringing home leftovers from work. Apparently, they were celebrating something, so she had a lot to take home.”

“Oh, that’s cool. I wonder if it was someone’s birthday.”

“Yeah, so do you want to play video games when we get home now?”

“Craaaaig!” Tweek whined, swaying their connected hands back and forth slightly. “Homework first!”

Craig brought Tweek’s hand to his lips and pressed a light kiss on his knuckles. “Pleeeease?” he drawled as he attempted the sparkling puppy eyes that Tricia used often on their parents when they were younger. Unfortunately for him, they only worked on people who were small and cute, and Craig was far from both of those. He was nowhere near unattractive, and many would say he was handsome, but nobody could call him adorable without getting flipped off.

“You look ridiculous right now,” Tweek criticized with the roll of his eyes. “You think puppy eyes will convince me? You’re not even doing it right.”

“Oh? Like you’re some kind of expert?”

Tweek eyed the market for a second, then turned back to Craig, looking up at him with a much better attempt at puppy eyes. “Craig?” he asked softly. He placed his other hand on their interlocked ones and brought them to his chest, his chin close to his neck while his eyes and eyebrows pointed upwards. A mischievous smile disguised as an innocent one formed on his lips, completing the look. “Can you buy me some ice cream? Pretty please?”

The sparkle in Tweek’s eyes caught Craig off guard. His mouth opened slightly to speak, but no words came out. Instead, a faint blush tinted his cheeks as he looked to the store, then back at Tweek. “Yeah, okay…” he said with a nod. He snapped out of his trance when Tweek burst out laughing.

“Holy shit! I didn’t think that would actually work!” Tweek used his free hand to wipe a tear from his eye as Craig took his hand back to fold his arms across his chest with a pout.

“You’re not going to drama club anymore. I’m taking you home with me as soon as you finish your last class every Wednesday. They made you too powerful.”

“Aww, Craig.” He reached for Craig’s hand and intertwined their fingers again. “I was just trying to prove a point. I won’t try to manipulate you anymore, I promise.”

“Good,” Craig said with a huff. “I’ll make you sleep on the couch if you do.”

“That’s fair,” Tweek agrees, grinning. “But I really do want ice cream, though.”

* * *

**09/29/2018 11:57 PM [Tucker Residence, Craig's Room]**

Despite finding it easier to fall asleep when Craig was next to him, Tweek stayed up a little longer that night. He pulled the blanket over his mouth and lied on his side while staring straight ahead in the dark room.

 _I’ve come up with something interesting. Would you like to know what it is?_ said a playful voice in Tweek’s head.

Every now and then, this voice would speak to Tweek before he went to sleep. It differed from the other voices that he normally heard because it didn’t predict failure in his life or relationship. Instead, it spoke in cryptic phrases, never explaining anything clearly. Tweek had come to accept it as a part of his life and stopped questioning it whenever it spoke.

 _What did you come up with?_ he asked the voice.

_Let me ask you something. Would you do anything for the one you love?_

_Of course. Anything and everything to keep him by my side._

_Wouldn’t it help to take a glance at their future?_

_I don’t know. Is he happy in the future?_

_I wouldn’t know. The future can always change._

_It would be nice if you were more straightforward, but I’ve given up on the thought of that ever happening._

_That’s wise, but I stand by what I say. You’ll see what I mean soon._

_If you say so._

The voice ceased, but Tweek lied awake. A part of him wanted to wake Craig and tell him what the voice had said, but the calm, even breathing coming out of the boy’s nose led Tweek to decide to leave him alone.

 _Am I a part of Craig’s future?_ he wondered. He was confident that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with Craig, but how did Craig feel? For now, he knew he loved him, but what if Tweek did something to push him away for good? Or worse, what if the situation was completely out of his control, and Craig just fell out of love with him?

Shaking his head, he flipped his body over to the other side to face Craig, then placed a hand on his arm. When Craig didn’t respond, he snuggled closer, pressing his cheek onto Craig’s arm. Craig awoke to this, pressed a kiss on top of Tweek’s head, then turned to his side to face Tweek, pulling him closer into his chest.

“Is something wrong?” he asked, knowing that Tweek was still awake. His eyes shut closed, but he stayed conscious to hear what Tweek had to say. With his fingers, he drew circles on Tweek’s back.

Tweek adjusted to the change in position, content with the warmth he could feel from Craig’s body being so close. “Just something that the voice had said. The weird one that’s always so cryptic. But don’t worry. I know you’re tired, so I’ll tell you tomorrow.” He kept quiet about the negative thoughts, knowing that Craig would just deny them.

As much as Craig wanted to drop the subject and go to sleep, he forced himself to stay awake a little longer, hoping that he could help Tweek fall asleep as well. “You can tell me. I’ll listen.”

“It doesn’t bother me. It’s just weird. Don’t worry, I’ll be fine.” Tweek pushed away from Craig to press his lips on his, then snuggled back into his previous position wrapped in Craig’s arms. “Thank you, though. I love you.”

“I love you too,” Craig replied, patting Tweek’s head.

* * *

**09/30/2018 0 **7:00 AM [Tucker Residence, Craig’s Room]**  
**

Tweek’s eyes fluttered open slowly. The soundwaves of Craig’s 7 AM marimba alarm bounced from wall to wall, filling the room with an unpleasant ringing. He could hear Craig pat his hand on various spots of his bedside table until he found his phone, which he then began to tap several areas of the touchscreen to find the snooze button. Once the ringing ended, he rolled over to face and wrap his arms around Tweek.

“G’m’nin’,” he slurs before falling silent, returning to his peaceful slumber.

Now fully awake from the alarm, Tweek tries to wiggle out of Craig’s arms and leaves the bed. He walks around to Craig’s side and props himself up with one knee and both hands on the mattress. “Good morning,” he greets, leaning down to kiss the back of Craig’s head. He then picks up his phone and pulls up his diary, only to nearly drop it after seeing the entries written.

  
**07:00 AM [Tucker Residence, Craig’s Room]**  
Craig wakes up just to hit the snooze button, wraps his arms around me, tries to tell me “good morning”, then falls back asleep. He’s not a morning person.

 **07:10 AM [Tucker Residence, Craig’s Room]**  
Craig turns off the second alarm. He sees that I left to make breakfast, then falls back asleep.

 **07:20 AM [Tucker Residence, Craig’s Room]**  
Craig turns off the third alarm and finally sits up. He’s staring off into space because he’s still tired.

“I didn’t write this!” Tweek exclaims, startling Craig awake. Before he could read what else was written, the sound of static emits from his phone. The screen blurs and shows Tweek a new set of entries.

 **07:10 AM [Tucker Residence, Craig’s Room]**  
Craig and I talk about our diaries. What’s going on?!

 **07:20 AM [Tucker Residence, Craig’s Room]**  
Craig gets ready for school. He’s too calm about this!

A drowsy Craig rubs his eyes as he up on his bed. “What’s going on, babe?” he asks, following it up with a long yawn.

Tweek shoved his phone in front of Craig’s face. “Look at this! There're entries for today, and I know I didn’t write them!”

“Maybe you mistakenly wrote the 30th instead of the 29th. These could be yesterday’s entries.”

“No, you woke up to the first alarm, and I said that was unusual for you. I remember! But this one…” He looks at the phone again to make sure nothing had changed. “Not only did I not write these, but the entries changed when I woke you up!” He pointed at the screen when showing it to Craig. “See the 7:10 entry? At first, it said you turned off your alarm again, but now it says we’re talking about our diaries! Oh my god, check yours!”

Craig opened up his phone diary while Tweek shoved his face as close to his as possible.

  
**07:00 AM [My House, My Room]**  
My alarm goes off.

 **07:04 AM [My House, My Room]**  
Tweek and I discuss what’s going on with our diaries.

 **07:18 AM [My House, My Room]**  
Tweek left to make breakfast.

“Oh my god! This must be what the voice was talking about!” Tweek screamed.

“Oh yeah, you were going to tell me about that today.”

“Yes! It asked me if I wanted to see your future, and I said I didn’t know, but now I can see your future! See, everything in 10-minute intervals! All day, Craig!”

“Honey, honey, calm down,” said Craig, placing his hands on Tweek’s shoulders. He pushed him lightly to guide him to sit on the bed, then held out his hand. “We’re going to try something. Give me your phone.”

Tweek looks down at his phone. He’s tempted to read a few more entries, but he gives up the phone in the end, placing it in Craig’s hand. In return, Craig hands Tweek his own phone.

“You’re just going to stress yourself out if you keep looking at your phone all day. I’ll let you hold onto mine, okay? If you need to call me, remember to call your phone, okay?”

“O-okay…” Tweek hesitantly replies, looking down at the entries in Craig’s phone. They all involved his surroundings rather than himself, making it difficult for Tweek to keep an eye on Craig. His scrunched nose and eyebrows concern Craig, but it’s not enough to change his mind about his decision. He can feel Craig ruffling his hair and pressing his lips to it, allowing him to take a deep breath. Tweek closes his eyes, feeling content with Craig’s touch.

“It’ll be okay,” Craig whispers, though Tweek’s grip on his phone tightens. “We’ll figure this out.”

Tweek looks down at the phone and reads the 07:18 entry again. Suspecting that something bad might happen if he didn’t follow what it said, he leaves Craig’s side.

“I’m going to get ready and make breakfast,” he announces, doing his best to show a carefree smile, though his squinted eyes say otherwise. He focuses on finding an outfit quickly, making sure he leaves before 07:18.

Craig doesn’t look at Tweek’s diary. He falls backward onto the bed and stares at the lock screen wallpaper Tweek had chosen. It was updated the day before when the two had gotten ice cream. Craig was the one who had taken the picture, as Tweek was desperately trying to lick the melting coffee flavored ice cream off of the cone. He can’t recall a time where he smiled for a selfie unless Tweek was in it, but the photo of him beaming at the camera with his long-time love beside him caused him to smile back.

Tweek, catching a glimpse of Craig’s smile, decided to rush over and give him a quick kiss before leaving the room.

* * *

**09/30/2018 03:54 PM [South Park High School, Room 201]**

Though he had been able to restrain himself when Craig was around, Tweek was unable to keep his eyes away from Craig’s diary. Not being able to see if Craig was okay worried him to no end. There were even moments where he would rush out of the classroom immediately as the bell rang just to see Craig, even though they always met up in between classes. Craig wasn’t bothered by this, as he was fully aware of the source of Tweek’s paranoia, so he made sure to remind Tweek that he was okay. Tweek would even text him during class to see if he was alright, and Craig made it a habit to always reply as soon as possible to avoid having Tweek panic and check up on him personally.

They made it to the last class of the day, one that the two shared. With the lecture having finished twenty minutes early, the rest of the time was spent with the students doing a packet of worksheets, as Garrison claimed that it would shut them up for the time being. He instructed that they put their phones away and keep their eyes on their own paper as if they were taking a test, which none of the students questioned.

Craig was right next to him, yet Tweek checked his diary anyway. He scrolled through entries describing random things Craig saw during his daily routine, then stopped at a particular nighttime entry that made his cheeks burn instantly.

 **09:15 PM [My House, My Room]**  
Tweek brought up the fact that we haven’t had sex yet.

_What prompted me to bring up something like that?!_

Tweek turned to Craig quickly, though upon realizing that Craig is most likely unaware of this happening later that day, he turned back to the phone, scrolling down until he reached several entries that only listed “sleeping”. He locked the phone and hid it away in the front pocket of his backpack as he tried to control his heartbeat.

Knowing that Tweek was looking at his diary, Craig pulled out Tweek’s phone to see what entry would have caused him to act that way. Before he reached the right entry, Garrison stood in front of the boys with his hands on his hips, prompting many students to direct their attention to them.

“Craig, focus on your work and put your phone away.”

Craig locks Tweek’s phone without a word and shoves it in his front pocket. The static sound from before plays again, this time coming from both boys’ phones. Garrison turns to them with a glare while the boys switch their phones from vibrate to silent. Craig, not having been fully awake when the sound played the first time that day, didn’t make the connection. Tweek, on the other hand, was brought to a state of panic as he impatiently waited for the class to end.

When the final bell of the day rang, Tweek hurried outside once again, Craig trailing behind him as they left the school grounds. He pulled out Craig’s phone to check what had changed, but Craig took the phone away from him.

“Honey, you’ve been stressing out like crazy today. Don’t look at the phone anymore and just talk to me. Can we do that?”

“But Craig, that sound from earlier means that the future has changed!” he explained, trying to take the phone back from Craig. “I have to see what happened!”

Craig raised his arm up high enough for Tweek to be unable to reach while pushing lightly on his chest. “We’ll go somewhere to calm you down, then we’ll look at it together, okay?”

“Rrrrrrrrgh….”

“It’ll make you feel better, babe.”

Stepping back, Tweek let out a long, heavy sigh. While pouting, he used his thumbs to fiddle with the straps of his backpack as he stared at the concrete beneath him. For Craig’s sake, he needed to calm himself, but the desire to check the diaries to see if everything was going to be okay was too strong.

 _Craig won’t love you if you continue to cause trouble for him._ the voices echoed in his mind. _He’ll grow tired of you. He won’t tolerate you anymore. He’ll leave you._

“I’m… I’m sorry, Craig,” Tweek apologized, eyes becoming glossy as he tried to fight back the tears and the voices.

“It’s alright,” Craig spoke softly. He placed a hand on the back of Tweek’s head and pushed his face gently towards his chest. “I understand why this would worry you. Now, where do you want to go?”

_Follow me if you want to protect your beloved._

Tweek instantly recognizes this as a voice that he had never heard before. It reminded him of the one that often visited him at night, only this one sounded softer and higher pitched than the other. Under normal circumstances, he would question or defy the voice, but they used a keyword to keep him quiet: “protect”. Craig’s safety meant more to him than anything.

_Go to the abandoned district south of downtown. Reach the highest floor of the tallest building and hide there. You will both be safe._

“Follow me,” Tweek instructed, taking Craig by the hand. Seeing this as an opportunity to calm Tweek, Craig complied without question.

* * *

**09/30/2018 0 **4:15 PM [SoDoSoPa, Lofts, Outside]****

The towering lofts of SoDoSoPa cast a long, dark shadow over the boys. Though most of the needed structure needed to stand upright and look somewhat presentable was there, the building remained largely unfinished. Not only was it lacking the polished look it was intended to have to call itself a “luxury” apartment, but the spaces for doors and windows were also left unfilled, parts of the wall were missing in several areas, and much of the inside was filled with rubble and pipes. Still keeping hold of Craig’s hand, Tweek led him past one of the spaces meant to be filled with a window. He and Craig walked up several flights of stairs until they had reached the top of the abandoned building. When the sunlight hit Tweek on the roofless top floor, he blinked several times, realizing that he had lost control of his actions earlier.

“Wh-what are we doing here?” he asked, taking in his surroundings. He vaguely recalls the day he and Craig were asked to play ninjas in this very building with the other boys as children, though because the two had just recently established their relationship at the time, they had decided to spend time alone with each other instead.

“I don’t know,” Craig answered. “You were the one who brought me here. Did you want to take us somewhere we could be alone?”

Craig turned towards the setting sun for a moment, then took a seat on the floor. “I don’t know what you find romantic about abandoned lofts, but whatever floats your boat, I guess.” From afar, he could spot several tents on the ground, though none were occupied. “Wait, where did the homeless people go?”

“Huh? Homeless?” Tweek questioned frantically, looking in the same direction as Craig. “Why on earth would I take you to a place like this?! Craig, please let me see a diary! Doesn’t matter which one! Hurry!”

Finding the situation suspicious as well, Craig finally handed Tweek his phone while he opened up his own diary. Both boys froze upon reading the next entry.

 **04:30 PM [SoDoSoPa, 10th Floor Lofts]**  
The serial killer from the news stabs me.  
**—DEAD END—**

 **4:30 PM [SoDoSoPa, 10th Floor Lofts]**  
The serial killer from the news kills Craig. They won’t get away with this.

“That’s in three minutes! We can’t escape this building in time! We’re on the tenth floor!” Tweek hissed, making sure to stay relatively quiet as to not to draw attention to himself in the event that the killer was nearby. He gripped onto the front of Craig’s jacket with balled fists. “How could I bring us here?! We gotta get out of here!”

“Wait, I have a plan,” Craig whispered, prying Tweek’s hands off of his jacket and holding one of them tightly.

Heading directly across from the staircase, he began leading Tweek behind a wall separating the main building from the balcony, which was also missing doorways and windows. They both set their backpacks on the floor and out of sight, knowing that they might have to leave them behind. Listening closely to the approaching heavy footsteps walking up the stairs a couple floors below, Craig carefully balanced his phone upright on the floor, the camera lens peeking out far enough to show what lies beyond the doorway through the video chat on Tweek’s phone, but not far enough to compromise their hiding place.

“We’ll have to abandon my phone here for the time being, but when he comes this way, we’ll go through this open space...” Craig pointed his thumb to the opening to their direct left, which was around the corner from where he left his phone. “...then sneak past him to head down the stairs as fast as possible. All of his victims were slashed to death, so I doubt he has a gun. We can outrun him.”

The killer came into view when they had reached the top floor. Their dark outfit hid the majority of their features with a gas mask, goggles, a hat, and a mid-length black trench coat. In their hand was a freshly sharpened machete, striking fear into the boys when the light shined across the blade. Though doing his best to remain calm, Craig’s hand was shaking slightly in Tweek’s as he watched them.

_You’re here to fight. They’ll use their diary to find you. When they pull out their phone, destroy it, defeating them in turn. The diary and the user are one. Protect your love at all costs._

As the killer neared the doorway, Craig turned to Tweek to proceed with the plan, but Tweek broke from Craig’s grip to follow a plan of his own. Just like the voice had said, the killer pulled out their phone to check their diary. After slipping his phone into his front pocket, Tweek grabbed a piece of rubble and a pipe. The rubble was tossed from the intended escape route opening at a low angle, landing a short distance away from the killer’s boots. When they turned to the source of the noise, Tweek took the chance to run behind the killer. They turned around, phone in hand, which Tweek knocked out of their grip with the pipe, effectively knocking it onto the floor and breaking it. The static sound rang through the air, but Tweek’s eyes were too focused on his opponent to see what had changed.

Craig grabbed his phone and ran out of hiding to protect Tweek. Once the killer raised their machete, they dropped it onto the ground with a large clatter as their arm twisted backward through some outside force. The killer let out a pained cry, prolonging it when a hole appeared on their stomach, growing larger as it spun clockwise. Craig and Tweek stood in a mixture of terror and awe as the hole sucked its victim into oblivion, leaving only their shattered phone on the floor.

Tweek let the pipe slip out of his hand as he fell to his knees. Craig rushed over to his side, kneeling down to get on his level and pulling him into a tight embrace. Looking over Craig’s shoulder to see the killer’s phone, he pulled out his own to see what was changed in the future.

 **04:30 PM [SoDoSoPa, 10th Floor Lofts]**  
Craig’s dead end was avoided. I’m so glad that I could protect him!

“What the hell were you thinking?!” Craig shouted, holding Tweek tighter. “You could’ve gotten yourself killed!”

“The voice told me to break their phone to defeat them, and it worked. I was able to save you, Craig!”

Tweek hugged Craig in relief, pushing back his initial feelings of terror. As long as Craig was safe, he was happy, even if that meant risking his own life to make sure of it.

“Voice?” Craig questioned. “Why would it know how to make people disappear like that?”

“Good question!” said the voice, which Craig was now able to hear.

The boys found themselves in a new location: an open space where ten people with darkened and blurred features, including themselves, stood in a circle on raised white platforms from a point that couldn’t be seen. They all spun clockwise slowly, and the demeanor of each individual varied, with some looking confident and others shaking in place. Though both saw each other in the same indistinct fashion, Craig and Tweek could immediately recognize each other, with Craig nodding at the panicking Tweek with assurance. Tweek took a breath to relax, then stood tall as he waited for an explanation.

Two figures suddenly came to view on a heavily cracked and chipped hemisphere rising in the middle of the circle. The first was a large man dressed in a long, black cloak with a high collar that was adorned with two red jewels faceted in gold on each shoulder, connected by gold tassels. On top of his neat brown hair lied a small, golden crown with embedded diamonds, a red jewel on top, and a red plush inside. Sitting on a large white throne, he wore a devious smile, giving no reason for anyone standing before him to trust him.

Floating beside him in a kneeling position with her elbows resting on the armrest of the throne was a young woman with shoulder-length ashy brown hair. She was dressed in a short, loose-fitted white blouse that resembled a shawl made of chiffon, accompanied by a long and equally flowy emerald green skirt and brown strappy sandals. Like the man beside her, she also wore a crown, though hers was made up of pink and white flowers that circled around her head. Together, the pair contrasted each other heavily, if it wasn’t for the matching devious smile that also played on her lips.

“My love, will you explain to these poor souls why they have been summoned before us today?” the woman asked, sending her smile directly to Tweek. He made the connection that the voice that had spoken to him earlier and the woman’s voice were one and the same, causing him to lose his composure when she spoke.

“I would love to, my dear,” said the cloaked man, whose voice Tweek also recognized. He stood from his throne with arms wide open. “Welcome, all, to the Cathedral of Causality! As you all know, I am known as the god of the universe. The ten of you stand in this arena today because you have been chosen to play a game. A competition, to be more specific.”

The man sits back in his chair, watching the confused faces of the contestants before speaking again. “I have given each of you a diary that allows you to see into the future for up to ninety days. Each one is structured based on how they were previously used, which can either serve as an advantage or your downfall. Use this diary in your quest to defeat your opponents, either by killing them or destroying their diary. Some of you…” His throne spins and approaches Tweek, who responds by stepping back. “Have witnessed what happens when a diary is destroyed, thus kicking off the game with its first fallen contestant. Congratulations, First.”

Tweek inhaled sharply, turning to Craig, but Craig only gave him a quick glance before turning back to stare at the god. Everyone else turned to Tweek as well, muttering things he couldn’t hear.

“I left the best part for last,” the god continued, chuckling. “Your reason for participating in this game. You will all kill each other, and the last one standing will become the new god of the universe! Now, are there any questions?”

The contestants were stunned silent for a moment until one man raised his hand.

“Can you tell us why my diary constantly rewrites itself, then?” the man on the tenth platform asked, his voice distorted.

“If you go against what was written in the diary, the future will change to accommodate that. For example, if you see your demise written in your diary, you can take steps to avoid it, though it may not be easy, as your opponent can do the same. Each of you can use your diaries to change each other’s futures, whether to change your fate or set someone else’s in stone.”

“How will we find our opponents when we don’t know what they look like?” the teenage boy in the sixth platform spoke up.

“That will be up for you to deduce,” the god answered, remaining as vague and unhelpful as Tweek remembered. “If your position is compromised, you must do everything in your power to avoid your dead end, so it would be wise to not reveal your situation to others so easily.”

The god moved in front of Craig. “Second, your dead end was going to be at the hands of Third, but you seemed to have made the right choice in allies. Of course, allies can be temporary, and you can’t always trust them, so keep that in mind.”

Craig and Tweek turned to each other once again, then back to the god.

“If there are no more questions, then allow me to say one last thing. As the god of the universe, you will have the power over time and space, gaining powers beyond your comprehension. Do what you will with the universe, as it will be in your hands. Eleven players remain! Do what you must to defeat them! Let the games begin!”

Each of the contestants eyed the couple without a word before disappearing one by one. The boys were the only two left in the Cathedral of Causality, which had now turned into a giant dome-shaped room decorated with reflective hexagonal tiles, fluted pillars, and various black, shadowy designs. They held each other close, falling to their knees together.

Tweek nuzzled his face in between Craig’s neck and shoulder. “I’ll protect you,” he said. “I’ll do anything and everything I can to keep you safe from them. No matter what.”

“Don’t say that,” Craig whispered, patting the back of Tweek’s head. “We’re going to work together. We’re a team. We’ll protect each other.”

Though he knew Craig would stay true to his word, Tweek’s wasn’t sure of the extent of how far Craig was willing to go to survive in this game. Tweek was determined to protect him at all costs, no matter what he had to do, and the thought of Craig possibly hating him for it haunted him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed!


	2. Unfair Advantage

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please enjoy!

**09/30/2018 04:52 PM [Shi Tpa Town, Outside]**

****_We’re going to work together. We’re a team. We’ll protect each other._

Tweek repeated Craig’s words to keep the negative voices at bay. He won’t lose control. He won’t put them in danger. He won’t do anything to make Craig hate him.

That’s what he tells himself, but he isn’t confident in those promises in the slightest.

The boys walked home hand-in-hand like always. On the rooftop of the Lofts of SoDoSoPa, they defeated a serial killer and were explained the rules of a survival game, so now they were heading home to pretend like their day wasn’t as stressful as it was. They’ll go home, they’ll eat dinner, and they’ll sleep cuddled next to each other, just like every night.

Not even Craig, the calmer and more rational of the two, could believe that.

After what he’s seen today, there was no way he could brush it off and act as if everything was normal. He couldn’t even bring himself to check his phone to make sure nothing bad was going to happen on their way home, though he prayed in his mind that everything was going to be fine. He can’t handle two or more people after his head in a row.

Craig glances at Tweek from the corner of his eye to make sure he was okay. Tweek was walking with his eyes straight ahead. No twitching, no scanning the area for possible dangers, nothing. He walked as if the only thing on his mind was going home, which was abnormal for him. How could that be after everything that has happened?

“Are you alright?” Craig asked. There was no way Tweek would act so nonchalant about the situation, but then again, he did seem confident enough to smile when he told Craig that he would protect him. There was definitely something weird going on with him, but he felt as if asking him would cause Tweek to come crashing down. If feigning confidence was how Tweek wanted to keep himself standing tall, then Craig wasn’t going to do anything to bring his fears to light.

Not yet, anyway. He did plan to ask Tweek how he felt about the situation, much like how he always did when Tweek was afraid or stressed out, because doing so showed Tweek that he was there for him. He didn’t want Tweek to bottle up his feelings, especially during a time where they should be working together.

“I’m fine,” Tweek answered, smiling to himself. “Just a little shook up, but I’ll be okay.”

He hugged Craig’s arm with a content sigh. “Thank you,” he whispered as they continued down the sidewalk.

_I won’t let them take you away from me. I’ll make sure we’re together until the end._

Tweek was aware of how dangerous and creepy this way of thinking was, but as long as he didn’t let those thoughts consume him and cause him to do something terrible, everything will be fine.

They spent the rest of the time walking in silence, taking in the chatter of the lively townsfolk. At least the rest of the town seemed unaffected by the unfortunate turn of events.

As soon as they entered the house, they were greeted by Craig’s smiling mother, who wrapped her arms around both of them.

“Welcome home, boys!” she greeted cheerfully. “Dinner’s in the kitchen!”

She released them and practically floated into the kitchen, her long, navy skirt flowing behind her.

Craig turned to his sister, who was watching television on the couch.

“She’s just really happy about the promotion she got at work,” Tricia explained. She stared attentively at the television while wearing a pink dress with a white collar, just like the blonde girl on the screen.

“You’re such a nerd,” Craig pointed out, resting his elbows on the top of the couch Tricia sat on.

“Shut up!” she retorted, flipping him off. “At least I didn’t dress up like a thief and based my attacks off of Naruto when I was 10!”

Tweek made no attempt to stifle his laughter. He remembered the days where he and Craig played “The Stick of Truth” with their friends. At the time, he harbored a small crush on Craig, and he was slightly disappointed that he wanted to spend more time with Clyde than him. In no way was he jealous of Clyde, but the thought of Craig becoming closer to someone else and leaving him was one that crossed his mind often.

He pulled out his phone and scrolled through the diary entries for the night. Up until they all read “Craig is sleeping”, none of the entries hinted at any possible dangers, so he let out a sigh of relief. He decided to not look at the entries for the rest of the night to make sure he or Craig didn’t accidentally do something different from what was written and change the future. Because that’s how it works, right?

Not that he would know. The entire matter was confusing and terrifying to him, but out of all the worries he shared with Craig, this wasn’t going to be one of them, despite this being the realest and most dangerous of them all. Why he decided on this, he wasn’t sure, but it felt like a good idea that he planned to stick with.

* * *

**09/30/2018 11:46 PM [Tucker Residence, Craig's Room]  
**   


This is when Tweek’s poor memory becomes an obstacle yet again. He had forgotten that his diary said that Craig was going to ask him about his thoughts on their situation. The only answer he had was that he was going to protect Craig, but how was he going to do that? Was he going to try to only destroy his opponents’ phones and send them to oblivion, or would a situation arise where he had to…

No, he couldn’t do that. He couldn’t kill someone, especially not in front of Craig. But what if that was his only option? How would Craig feel if he watched him slaughter someone in cold blood? Would he become disgusted with him? Terrified? Would he leave him for good?

“Babe, hey, are you alright?”

Right before they went to bed, Craig asked Tweek if he wanted to talk about what had happened earlier. When he saw that how distressed Tweek had gotten, Craig was quick to comfort him. Tweek had his fingers tangled up in and gripping his unruly hair, so Craig grabbed Tweek’s arms, pulled them away from his head, and held his face in front of Tweek’s, trying to get his attention.

“Tweek? Honey, what’s wrong?” he asked calmly. “Are you freaking out about the game?”

With his lips pressed tightly together and his eyes shut tight, Tweek nodded fiercely. All of his fears slipped out at once in the form of tears streaming down his face.

“I’m scared, Craig…” he sobbed, lowering his head. “I… I don’t know what to do…”

“Baby, don’t cry. We’ll be fine, I promise.”

Craig held Tweek’s face in his hands. He used his thumbs to wipe away his tears and attempted to show Tweek a gentle smile that could hopefully calm him.

“Remember what I said, honey? We’re a team. We’ll be here for each other, right?”

He pulled Tweek into a tight embrace, then began to rub his hand up and down Tweek’s back.

“So right now, I’m going to be here for you. Just let it all out, babe. I’m right here. I’ll always be here.”

“Mm-hmm…” Tweek hummed in agreement. He returned Craig’s hug, burying his face into the crane of his neck. “You can rely on me too. I’ll be here for you too.”

“We have to think of a game plan, okay?” Craig said softly.

He didn’t suspect Tricia or his mother to be players in the slightest, but the god’s advice to keep his identity a secret was one that resonated with him the most. He could trust Tweek, that was for sure, but what about everyone else? Clyde? Token? Jimmy? They would tell him if they were part of the game too, wouldn’t they?

He believes this, but he can’t bring himself to share his identity with them, his best friends. As long as Tweek knew and was on his side, he wouldn’t feel so bad about keeping it to himself.

The fact that Tweek was taking part of the game too made Craig both glad and terrified. He was glad to know that Tweek going to fight alongside him, but Tweek participating in the first place was just a cruel joke. If Tweek was defeated, Craig would feel as if he had lost all meaning in his life. He didn’t know what would happen if they refused to kill each other if they managed to be the last two standing, but at this point, he was too afraid to ask.

Tweek pulled away from him, but he held Craig’s hands in his.

“We should protect ourselves. We’ll keep weapons on us, but we’re not going to show them off or anything.”

“Yeah, that’s a really good idea,” Craig agreed, nodding. “I’ll lend you one of my pocket knives. Or two, just in case. Also…”

He pulls out his phone, holds it up in front of Tweek’s face, then places it on the bed. Tweek does the same, placing his phone right next to Craig’s.

“Unless there’s an emergency, we can’t be seen looking at our diaries. We need to keep our identities hidden, so if another player spots us using them, they’ll come after us.”

Tweek bit his lip as he stared down at his phone. Without his diary, how will he know Craig is safe when they’re apart?

Craig could tell what Tweek was thinking from his reaction to his words alone, so he held Tweek’s hand in his firmly.

“I can take care of myself, sweetheart. I’ll let you know how I’m doing as often as I can so that you won’t have to rely on your diary, okay?”

With a pout, Tweek mumbled “okay” before taking his phone back. He held it in his hand, stared at the dark screen, then looked up at Craig.

“No one’s here to see me look at my diary… I can look at tomorrow’s entries to see if everything will be okay, right?”

Craig sighed. He picked up his own phone and opened up his diary.

“We’ll look together, okay?”

Tweek nodded, then opened up his diary to skim through the entries. Every one of them listed menial tasks and activities that Craig participated in throughout the day. If he didn’t know any better, the diary could have just been describing Craig’s daily routine, which was fairly boring, to say the least. The boy preferred routine over spontaneity, after all. “Nice and boring”, as he would say, which Tweek had no problem with. A normal, everyday routine is just what he needed, and doing it alongside Craig made it worthwhile.

Craig’s entries were as nice and boring as Tweek’s, though a few stated that Tweek was anxious during certain times of the day, and others said that he was resisting the urge to check his diary, which he felt was inevitable. He decided not to say anything about it, but he hoped it wouldn’t become an issue.

“Nothing bad will happen to you tomorrow,” Tweek announced with a sigh. “This is so convenient, knowing these kinds of things ahead of time.”

“Mine says the same,” Craig added.

He held out his hand, so Tweek placed his phone in it. Craig placed his and Tweek’s phones on his bedside table, stood to turn off the lights, then crawled under the sheets to join Tweek.

Unlike Craig, Tweek couldn’t fall asleep right away, even though he was drained. The scenes of the day’s events played in his head on a continuous loop, keeping him awake. He turned to Craig, who had fallen victim to his exhaustion, and stared at him. His eyes wandered to Craig’s chest, watching it rise and fall from every breath Craig took. At times like these, watching Craig sleep relaxing to him, and it was also a way to help him fall asleep as well.

Though his eyes were closed, Craig could feel Tweek’s gaze on him.

“Did you want to say something?” he asked, startling Tweek.

“No, um… I was just having trouble falling asleep.”

“Face the other way.”

Tweek did as he was told and rolled to his side, facing away from Craig. From behind, Craig wrapped an arm around Tweek and arranged their bodies so that they would fit together perfectly. He nuzzled and kissed the back of Tweek’s neck, then dozed off.

Although Tweek was happy with the new position, he was still wide awake.

_Look at the diary. Make sure he’s okay._

_Betray his trust, and he won’t love you anymore._

_Do everything you can to protect him. EVERYTHING._

_You’ll scare him away someday._

_You will be with him forever._

_You two were never meant to last._

_Your relationship is in danger._

_It won’t last._

_This game will destroy everything._

Inhaling sharply, Tweek shut his eyes and then exhaled with a shaky breath. The thoughts conflicting with each other made the chance of him falling asleep plummet down to none.

“I love you, Tweek,” Craig whispered, rubbing Tweek’s arm. “We’ll be okay, I promise. I’ll tell you that as many times as you need.”

And with that, the voices stopped for the night. After a minute, Tweek’s drowsiness took over, pulling his heavy eyelids closed.

* * *

**10/01/2018 **10:50 AM [South Park High School, Floor 2, Hallway 3]****

The future changing was not what Tweek needed right now. The one time during the day where he and Craig were on opposite sides of the school just had to be when the static sound went off. The hallways were noisy enough for no one to notice the sound emitting from him, so with his back to the wall and his phone backlight dimmed as much as possible, Tweek checked what had changed. It wasn’t something dangerous, but it certainly wasn’t welcomed.

 **10:50 AM [South Park High School, Floor 2, Hallway 1]  
** That flower crown bitch is flirting with Craig! How dare she?!

Who his diary was referring to, he wasn’t sure, though figuring out who she was wasn’t at the top of his priorities list. Everyone in South Park knows that Craig is _his_ boyfriend, so who does she think she is?

Meanwhile, Craig looked around the hallway for Tweek, but they were nowhere near each other.

“Hey!” the woman called out playfully to Craig, waving a hand in his face. “Your boyfriend isn’t here right now, so pay attention to me!”

As much as he wanted to flip her off and walk away, the last time Craig saw this woman, she was floating next to a god that wants to watch people kill each other for fun. Not only is it unlikely for her to leave quietly, it’s also unlikely for her to leave him unscathed. He promised Tweek that everything would be okay, so being killed for disobeying this woman wasn’t something that Craig saw as an option.

The woman walked around him, observing all of his features. She hummed approvingly multiple times, nodding her head with her arms folded across her chest. All Craig could do was watch.

“Tell me something, Craig Tucker. What number comes to mind when you look at me?”

“Uh… You look eighteen, I guess. I don’t know.”

“Divide that by two, and you get nine, right?”

“...yes?”

Craig looked around again for Tweek, but no luck. The woman grabbed Craig by the chin and forced him to face her.

“Nine, ninth. I’m the ninth player, Heidi Turner. Nice to meet you, Second!”

Tweek ran up from behind Craig and attempted to swat Heidi’s hand away, but she stepped back on her own.

“Don’t touch my Craig!” he shouted, holding his arm in front of Craig to shield him.

Heidi held her hand over her mouth and giggled.

“How precious! Jealousy is common in romantic relationships, but it’s not exactly the healthiest. Regardless, what a beautiful display of love!”

It suddenly struck Tweek that the woman he almost hit was the one who was by the god of the universe’s side. The fear of what she was capable of doing to him and Craig set in, but he overpowered it with the determination to protect Craig from her. There had to be a reason why she was here.

“You have some kind of supernatural powers, don’t you?” Craig pointed out. “I saw you floating at the Cathedral. Wouldn’t you joining the game be unfair?”

“I’m standing on the floor right now, aren’t I?” she pointed out. “I’m not _that_ overpowered.”

With the wave of her hand, a powerful gust of wind knocked everyone in the hallway down, slamming students into walls, lockers, and doors. Once they recovered, they all scrambled to their feet and hid in the classrooms while screaming, leaving Heidi and the boys alone in the hallway. From the small windows on the doors, students pushed each other to see what was about to happen.

“Okay, I can do a few things humans can’t, but I promise that I’m only here to make things more interesting for my love’s viewing pleasure.”

Heidi walked up to Tweek with her hands behind her back, flashing a curious smile at him. Tweek continued to defend Craig. There was no way in hell that this girl could be trusted.

“You two have something that I want,” she explained, pointing at them with two fingers.

“Well you can’t have them,” said Craig.

As soon as he tried to take Tweek’s hand to run, Heidi swiftly leaped towards him and pushed Tweek’s back, propelling him meters away and onto the floor. Before Craig could run to his side, Heidi set off an explosion, causing the tile floor beneath Tweek to crumble and fall, dragging Tweek with them. Craig screamed his name, but he couldn’t move. Armlike shadows wrapped around his ankles and wrists, keeping him in place.

This truly was an unfair advantage.

“So, what? Are you going to kill us?” Craig questioned, glaring from his spot. “Overkill is a little boring, don’t you think?”

“I don’t know if I’ll kill you or not,” Heidi noted. She smiled towards the window at the parking lot by the entrance of the school. “There’s a few things I want to do first.”

* * *

**10/01/2018 10:58 AM [South Park High School, Floor 1, Hallway 1]**

Luckily, Tweek wasn’t badly hurt. He was scratched up and bruised, but he was still able to move. He rolled off of the pile of rubble and ran to the nearest staircase to reach Craig. His bruises sent sharp pains throughout his body as he tried to run, but Tweek wasn’t going to let some supernatural bitch kill Craig. He didn’t care how slim his odds were. Two steps at a time, he leapt up the stairs as fast as he could until he reached the top.

Heidi smiled at him from across the hall. Tweek managed to take the stairs that didn’t lead him to the gaping hole on the floor, so there was a clear path between them.

“Might want to think about whether you want to do that,” she called out before Tweek stepped forward. “We’re going to play a little game, First.”

Tweek looked down at the floor, hesitant. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, but he still had to be careful. He pulled out his diary and read the next entry.

 **11:00 AM [South Park High School, Floor 2, Hallway 1]  
** Heidi is holding Craig hostage. If I don’t play her game, she’ll slice his throat! I have to save him!

Cursing under his breath, he puts his phone back in his pocket and stands in place.

“Name your game!” he orders, balling his fists.

Heidi pointed to the tile floor.

“You’ve probably heard of this before. It’s like the game “Minesweeper”. You can’t see them, but there are triggers to explosions in the floor. Step on one, and a bomb goes off in one of the classrooms."

The students closest to the scene passed this information onto one another until the entire second floor was filled with hushed whispers.

“You have ten seconds to come save your love, so you don’t have a lot of time to think.”

Heidi held a knife to Craig’s throat. Craig struggles to move away, but he’s rendered helpless. To Craig’s left, he could see Token, Stan, and Kyle watching from the window of the classroom door. To his right, he could see Clyde, Jimmy, Kenny, and Butters. If Tweek set off an explosion, there was a possibility of them getting caught in it. He promised Tweek he would stay alive to be by his side, so why did he have to sacrifice his friends just to make that happen? He hated being helpless, but without the ability to move his body, he had no other option except pray for the best.

“I want to see what pure devotion looks like! Show me, First! Killing your friends and classmates in the name of love, or would you say pure selfishness?”

Tweek could see his friends staring at him from the windows, but to choose between them or Craig? He didn’t have enough time to decide.

“You have ten seconds, starting now!”

It has to be Craig. He promised to protect Craig, but maybe he could do it with as little casualties as possible.

“Ten!”

Tweek looked to the floor again, took a step, and immediately heard an explosion go off on the first floor. He felt his heart drop when he heard screaming, but there was no time to waste. His love was top priority.

“Nine!”

He started running, taking large steps at a time to reduce the amount of explosions.

“Eight!”

Rubble and concrete crumbled and crashed around him. The screams of his classmates were ringing in his ears, but he kept going.

“Seven!”

Tires screeching and police sirens were heard nearby, but no announcements were made. Tweek passed by a classroom caught in an explosion, but he paid no mind to the glass and smoke flying towards him.

“Six!”

The sound of people bursting through the front door and shouting orders by the stairs was faint.

“Five!”

“Why did you protect us from Third?!” Tweek blurted out as a way to stall. He stood in place, waiting for her response.

Heidi stopped her countdown and stepped away from Craig.

“Protect you?” she repeated, holding a finger to her lips.

“You were the one who told me how to defeat them! That was you talking to me yesterday, wasn’t it?”

“Oh, that? I just wanted to start the game already. If I didn’t tell you, you would’ve just ran off and gotten the police involved. That’s no fun.”

She pulled her knife back out and pointed it towards Tweek.

“And since you thought you could stall me, I’ve reduced your countdown to zero. Say goodbye to your boy toy!”

Heidi spun on her toes and swung the knife towards Craig’s neck. Craig shut his eyes closed as he prepared for his death, but it didn’t come. When he opened his eyes, he saw Heidi frozen in place. The look on her face was more of surprise than fear when blood dripped down from the cut on her cheek. She dropped her knife and placed a hand on her cheek. She then wiped off some of the blood and stared at it with genuine curiosity.

Tweek leaned forward from his spot, his right arm outstretched towards Heidi and Craig. The knife he had thrown had managed to graze Heidi’s cheek and make her drop her own, so he was able to run to Craig’s side. Heidi’s powers deactivated when she became distracted by the cut on her face, so Craig fell forward when the shadows released him, causing him to land into Tweek’s open arms.

“Stop right there!” a dark-haired woman in a navy suit ordered. She held a loaded gun at her side.

The woman’s subordinates pointed their guns at the three, but the dark-haired woman was clearly the one in charge. She stood tall with unwavering confidence in front of two people who had just blown up half of a school.

“These are direct orders from Chief of Police Wendy Testaburger. Block off all escape routes in this school. We have the suspects in sight,” Wendy commanded into her earpiece.

She pointed her gun at Heidi, who she saw as the main suspect. Heidi only smiled in response.

“You were the one who blew up the school, weren’t you? Confess and come quietly with us.”

“I may have laid the bombs, but he set them off,” Heidi admitted, pointing to Tweek.

“Officer, she gave him no choice! He had to run across the minefield to save me!” Craig refuted, stepping forward to shield Tweek behind him with his arm.

The red-haired and dark-skinned officers stepped up to stand by Wendy’s side, both with their guns pointed at Heidi.

“Don’t move!” the red-haired woman ordered.

“You’re under arrest!” the dark-skinned woman announced.

Heidi grinned, holding her hands up as she walked towards the officers.

“I’m impressed, First!” she said as she walked. “Being able to strike at a near god shows some true skill! I have high hopes for you!”

Wendy looked to her subordinates and nodded her head, to which they responded by lowering their guns, yet they kept them on hand. They kept a close eye on her as she walked, since the smile on her face gave them no reason to believe that she would come quietly.

Heidi was only two steps away from the officers. She held her arms out to be cuffed, but once the red-haired woman pulled out a pair of handcuffs, Heidi disappeared. She then re-appeared behind Wendy, much to her surprise.  

“I’ve been waiting for you! Help make the game fun for us, okay?” she whispered into Wendy’s ear before she disappeared again.

Wendy spun around with her gun ready, but Heidi was already gone. Sighing, she walked to Tweek and Craig, using the wave of her hand to signal the others to put away their weapons.

“What are your names?” Wendy interrogated, pulling out a pen and a small notebook from her pocket.

Craig looked to Tweek, who was fidgeting with the hem of his shirt. He placed a hand on Tweek’s shoulder, gaining his attention, then mouthed out the words, “I’ve got this”.

“Craig Tucker and Tweek Tweak,” he answered.

Wendy began writing in her notebook.

“What do you know about that woman?”

“She said her name was Heidi Turner. That’s all we know,” said Craig. He kept the fact that she knew him hidden, but when Heidi referred to Tweek as “First”, Craig knew that Wendy might have already been able tell that they had some relation to each other.

Wendy wrote down Heidi’s name, the time and date of the incident, and various other details.

“What did she want from you two?”

Tweek looked to Craig for answers.

“Well…” Craig began.

If he remembered correctly, Heidi never clearly stated what she wanted from them. He initially believed that she was after their diaries, but what for? As she claimed, she was a near god who wanted to make the game more interesting. Destroying their phones and getting rid of them easily would be too boring, wouldn’t it? So what did she want?

“All she said was that she wanted _something_ from us, but she never clarified what that something was,” Craig answered. “I don’t know what we have that she wants, and I can say that truthfully.”

Wendy tapped her pen on the page impatiently. She expected this sort of answer, yet she was naive enough to have hope for more clues.

“Marshall! Daniels!” she called out with the wave of her pen.

The women put their guns away, paced to her side, then stood upright.

“These two classrooms…” She motioned towards her left and right with her pen. “...were unaffected by that woman’s bombs. Bring them outside and question them about what they know. Have the reinforcements outside search the school for the rest of the survivors.”

“Yes ma’am!” they answered in unison before leaving to carry out their task, one woman going into each classroom.

Wendy waves her hand for the boys to follow. She leads them outside, but away from the police vehicles, unlike the other students.

“Let me ask you something, boys.”

She pulls out a smartphone protected by a pink, heavy duty case with a shiny seashell-like pattern, contrasting her intimidating demeanor.

“Was she after yours?”

The boys’ eyes widen, their mouths slightly agape. They look to each other, then back at Wendy.

“Is that…” Craig started.

“A future diary,” Wendy replied with a friendly smile. “First, Second, meet Fourth. My name is Wendy Testaburger.”

Craig wasn’t sure what to make of this situation. Her smile said potential ally, but her phone said enemy. If she was there when the god said to choose who to reveal themselves to carefully, then why has she chosen them? What were her intentions?

Tweek on the other hand only saw enemy. He was highly suspicious of Wendy, and the thought of forming an alliance with her set off red flags. She may have been the final push for driving Heidi away, but in the end, in a game like this, there really was no such thing as alliances with other diary users. He only needed Craig by his side, as he knew that Craig’s intentions were pure.

“Why are you telling us this?” Tweek questioned. He tried not to make himself look threatening in front of an officer, but forcing himself to keep a neutral expression when his eyes were trying to glare proved to be a challenge.

“I’m trying to figure out the reason for this game and hopefully put a stop to it. We don’t need murderers on the loose now, do we? And who better to help my cause then South Park’s favorite couple?”

“You think we’ll help you because of _that_?” Craig asked, confused. “What does that have to do with anything?”

“Well, if the game continues, you two will have to either run or fight for your lives. Not only that, but there will only be one victor. If you two happen to be the only ones standing, one of you _has_ to kill the other, and you don’t want to have to do that, right?”

Of course they knew, but neither of them wanted to think about it until it actually became an issue. Neither of them wanted to even consider the possibility of losing one another to a different diary user.

Tweek stared down at the ground, biting his lip. He hated this game not just because of its rules, but what it has turned him into. He knows damn well of the lives that were sacrificed in order to save Craig, but if Heidi killed Craig, he wouldn’t be able to live without him. Craig has done so much for him, so what could he do in return? Risk the lives of innocents for his own selfish reasons?

_Killing your friends and classmates in the name of love, or would you say pure selfishness?_

Tweek remembered her words clearly. He loves Craig with his entire being, so why does it feel so wrong to put him above all else?

Craig could sense Tweek’s stress. He learned how to after all these years. He rubbed circles on his back while keeping his gaze on Wendy.

“So what do you want us to do?”

Wendy sighed again. She stared at the minimal entries in her notebook disappointingly, circling Heidi’s name with her un-clicked pen.

“It’ll be a challenge to take down that woman. Perhaps I can strike a deal with her somehow if we ever meet again, but there’s no way of telling when that could possibly be. I don’t think she’ll kill any of the contestants for the sake of keeping the game entertaining, but the same can’t be said about outsiders. From what I’ve noticed about hers and the god’s behavior, they seem to love chaos and destruction.”

She pinched the bridge of her nose as she shook her head.

“To think that the one ruling over the universe turned out to be such a heartless individual who just wants constant entertainment… I’m not even surprised that he let that woman join the game when she’s clearly overpowered."

“Honestly, it’s admirable that you actually want to try and take her down,” Craig notes.

“Feigning confidence is part of the job,” she replied, chuckling. “But don’t worry. I’ll definitely figure something out. I’ve got your back as long as you have mine, alright?”

She eyed Tweek during that last part. What kind of police chief would she be if she couldn’t sense hostility from someone? Tweek was trying not to glare or appear dangerous in any way, but it wasn’t hard to see the distrust he had towards her.

Tweek knew better not to attack her, but how could he trust her? This was a killing game for the throne of god. There were no such things as alliances, and if there were, they would only be temporary. That’s just how it was.

Several pairs of footsteps were heard nearby. The three turned to the source of the sound and saw Clyde, Token, Jimmy, Stan, Kyle, Kenny, and Butters sneaking away from the other students. Clyde, in front, stopped when he saw that Craig and Tweek were speaking with Wendy. Many of the boys ran into each other from the abrupt action, then looked to see what had caught Clyde’s attention.

“Uh… Are we walking in on an interrogation?” Token asked, his gaze switching repeatedly from the couple to Wendy.

“No, don’t worry,” Wendy assured. “I have all the information I need. Thank you, boys.”

She pushes her phone into her pocket and saunters off. The boys rush towards the couple, all chattering at once. All but Stan, who trails behind Wendy.

“Dude!” Kyle shouted at Tweek, his hands balled into fists. “You could’ve killed us!”

“Not cool, Tweek,” said Clyde. “I almost pissed myself when I heard an explosion in the room next to the one I was in.”

“I g-get that you wanted to s-s-save Craig, but our lives w-w-w-were at stake too,” Jimmy added.

Tweek looked down at the ground again in shame. They were right, after all. He does care for his friends, but nowhere near as much as he does for Craig. But that’s not really something one would say as a reason for nearly getting them killed. He was glad that they were perfectly fine, but now he would have to face the consequences.

“I’m so sorry, everyone,” he said softly, eyes still on the ground as he grabbed Craig’s sleeve. “I didn’t know how to save everyone. I just…”

“She really didn’t give him any options,” Craig interrupted, grabbing Tweek’s hand. “And to be fair, none of you made the effort to try and save me, so I won’t let you blame him entirely.”

The others looked to each other, then to Craig. Now all of them had the same apologetic expression as Tweek.

“I’m sorry, guys,” Clyde apologized. “I should have done something, but I didn’t.”

“S-same here,” said Jimmy.

“Sorry,” the rest of the boys added in almost-unison.

In the midst of the silence, Clyde made a comment that he would come to regret within the next minute.

“So that girl that held Craig hostage… I couldn’t be the only one that thought she was kinda hot, right?”

“Dude, Clyde, what the fuck?” said Token.

“I’d hit it,” Kenny smirked. He gained a high-five from Clyde and Jimmy, but a disturbed look from Token, Craig, and Tweek.

“I guess appearance wise, she’s pretty, but the psychopathy cancels that out,” Kyle reasoned.

“I thought she was kinda pretty too,” Butters agreed, nodding. “But, uh… She’s definitely scary.”

“Okay, so we’re just gonna talk about how hot the girl who tried to kill me was?” Craig pointed out with an overwhelming amount of passive-aggressiveness. “That’s cool. It’s not like Craig and Tweek are traumatized or anything. Fuck them, right?”

“Don’t stop! I love the compliments!” Heidi smiled, reappearing in the middle of the circle.

Like a reflex, Tweek whipped out a knife and leaped towards Heidi.

“Get out of here, you crazy bitch!” he shouted, causing the rest of the boys to back away.

Heidi disappeared once again, leaving Tweek to nearly fall forward as he slashed through the air. The boys stood in shock, though it was due to the fact that they were within Tweek’s slashing range rather than Heidi’s sudden appearance. Craig quickly wrapped his arms around Tweek’s stomach to hold him back before he fell and accidentally struck Kenny, who was the closest.

“Never thought my next death would be by the hands of Tweek,” Kenny joked, his hands in his pockets as he stood unaffected.

“Kenny, stop making dying jokes,” Kyle complained. “We never understand them.”

The tension in the air shot up immensely. Just when the gang had forgiven Tweek for nearly killing them, he just had to scare them into losing trust in him once again.

“I… I should leave,” Tweek mumbled, fully aware of what his actions have caused.

Craig didn’t know how to back Tweek up for this one. Sure, Heidi did try to kill him earlier, but he didn’t think his friends would appreciate watching his boyfriend cut someone up in front of their eyes. They also don’t know why she was after them in the first place, unlike Wendy, so explaining why Tweek was ready to murder at the drop of a hat wouldn’t be easy. Still, he wasn’t going to let them hate him for it.

“It’s not his fault,” Craig told them, taking Tweek’s hand and leading him back to his house.

* * *

**10/01/2018 11:32 AM [Shi Tpa Town, Outside]**

The walk home was dead silent. It’s no surprise that they were allowed to leave after what had happened to their school, but Craig worried over how people will react to Tweek when they see him again, knowing that he intended to sacrifice their lives. He rubbed Tweek’s hand with his thumb. When Tweek looked up at him, he smiled. 

“Thank you for saving me,” said Craig. “The others might not agree, but I’m glad that you did what you did for me. I mean, I don’t want the others to die, but… I mean…”

He was rambling at this point. After several seconds of “uh”, “well”, and “you know”, Tweek finally cut him off with a tight hug.

“I should have thought of a way to save all of you sooner. I should’ve… I should’ve read more entries. Maybe there would’ve been a way to…”

Tweek pulled out his phone. All he could see were the earlier entries of Craig being Heidi’s hostage, but nothing else. His diary wouldn’t tell him how to save people or anything like that. Everything was about what Craig was doing and nothing else.

_This diary is just like you. It only cares about Craig. It’s selfish, just like you._

“I’m sorry, Craig… I’m so sorry...” he apologized, his voice cracking as tears rolled down his eyes. “I didn’t mean to scare them or put them in danger… I tried jumping farther to avoid touching the ground. I really did. I… I couldn’t bear the thought of seeing you get killed, so I...”

Craig hugged Tweek back. “It’s okay.” He repeated this like a mantra. “It’s okay. It’s okay. Shh… It’s okay. Don’t cry.”

He pushed Tweek back by the shoulders and wiped away the tears under his eyes with his thumbs. He then held his face up by his cheeks, allowing Tweek to look up at him through his blurred vision.

“We’ll be okay, I promise. I’ll told you that I’d tell you this as many times as you need, remember? Whatever happens, I know you’ll have good intentions, so don’t think I’ll end up hating you, okay? This game is cruel, so I better learn how to not get into trouble.”

Craig says that lightheartedly to ease the atmosphere. He was successful in making Tweek smile, but thinking back at what he had just said, he realized that he better follow his own advice. He won’t let himself be captured all the time. He needed to be prepared to protect Tweek as well.

As they continued to walk, his thumb rubbed the knife hidden in the front pocket of his jeans. To protect Tweek, it’s possible that he would need to use this as well. Was he prepared to walk the same path as Tweek for the sake of survival? He hoped that wouldn’t be the case, but that kind of wishful thinking usually led to one’s downfall.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I felt like the fight scene wasn't long enough. I'll try again in a later chapter to add more detail, but this one was running pretty long. I hoped you liked it!


	3. Personal Agenda

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Are you ready for some fluff??? Boys being boys, boys being cute, boys being in love. All good stuff. We'll get back to our regularly scheduled violence and angst in due time, my friends.
> 
> As always, I hope you enjoy!

 

**10/01/2018 11:28 AM [South Park High School, Courtyard]**

Wendy knew she was being followed, but she sensed no danger from them. She could tell they were trailing close behind, so she spun on her toes to face her stalker, to their surprise.

“Did you have something to say?” she asked playfully, dropping her confident officer facade. For a moment, she cringed internally at her choice of tone, which reminded her of Heidi.

Stan took a moment to get a good look at Wendy now that she was standing front and center. Her dark hair was tied up in a high bun with two chin-length strands hanging down, framing her face. The fitted navy pantsuit she wore covered her up to prevent appearing provocative, yet it managed to highlight her slim figure in a flattering way. For an officer, she looked very young, most likely in her early twenties. She wasn’t intimidating like before, but it’s not like she had a reason to be when the person before her was just some awkward teenager. Even so, she gave off an air of professionalism and authority that he couldn’t begin to match, making him nervous just by being in her presence.

He opened his mouth to speak, but he then quickly covered it with his hand when he felt something come up his throat. He spent a few seconds to cough, dust off his clothes, and stand up straight.

“So, uh… Bombs…”

“Excuse me?” Wendy questioned, tilting her head.

“Shit, uh… Th-that was dumb. Sorry,” Stan stuttered, rubbing the back of his neck that had reddened from his blush. “I just wanted to say that you looked badass earlier with your gun and all… Wait, I mean that you looked… admirable? Like those TV cops I pretended to be when I was a kid.”

Wendy giggled at Stan’s amusing attempt at making conversation with her. She allowed herself to relax and let her guard down, fully aware of Stan’s intentions.

“You’re Stan, right? Stan Marsh?”

“How did you know?” he asked, beginning to panic. “I haven’t been getting into any legal trouble for years! Oh wait, do you just know everybody?”

“It was two years ago,” Wendy recalled, playing with one of the hanging strands of hair as she spoke. “You didn’t notice me because I was only shadowing a senior officer at the time, but your father was being pulled over for driving intoxicated again.”

Stan closed his eyes and took a long, deep breath. He remembered this moment as well, though he didn’t see Wendy at the time. At sixteen, his father made it a habit to pay Stan to drive him to the bar and back. For a reason unknown to him, Randy wanted to go to a store that Stan hadn’t heard of, which led to him bribing Stan with more money in order to let him drive. Needless to say, they were immediately pulled over, and the officer told Stan that he needed to be the one to drive.

“Right… I remember something like that happening…”

“That reminds me,” Wendy suddenly mentioned. “You’re friends with Craig Tucker and Tweek Tweak, right? You were one of the boys approaching them. Well, before you started following me, that is.”

“Yeah, I’m friends with them. Why do you ask?”

Wendy pulled out her notebook and pen. She looked at Stan briefly, then began to write something down.

“I’d like your help with something, if you don’t mind.”

“Yeah, sure!” Stan answered instantly with an enthusiastic nod. The idea of possibly doing detective work of some kind appealed to him. Whatever task she had for him, he was confident that he would do great and impress her.

“Your friends are assisting me with an independent case of interrogating the motives of the woman who terrorized your school,” Wendy explained.

Keeping her eyes on the book, she taps her pen on the paper before writing more notes. Stan watched patiently, curious as to what she could be writing down.

“I’m sure you’ve noticed, but arresting her seems impossible, due to her capabilities. I was told that she was after your friends’ phones, but I have yet to figure out why. I can’t search them without a warrant, and it’s obvious that Tweak doesn’t trust me, so I’ll need you to follow them around and see if you notice something out of the ordinary about their phones.”

On the bottom of the page, she draws two rectangles on each end. Right above the left rectangle, she wrote “CT-2”. On top of the right one, she wrote “TT-1”. Above both of them, she wrote “___ diary”.

“Perhaps it’s some kind of app, or maybe they have information stored in there that she wants. Either way, I’d like you to help me gather this information.”

“Of course!” Stan agrees, grinning. “I mean, I don’t know why she would want their phones, but I can do that. Maybe I can bring a group of friends to the amusement park and invite them along.”

“That would be perfect,” Wendy smiled, shutting the notebook closed and slipping it back into her pocket.

She held out a hand for Stan to shake. When their hands met, she slipped a tiny microphone and camera with clips attached into Stan’s hand.

“I’m happy that you’ll be assisting me, Stan. I look forward to working with you. I’ll text you more details tomorrow, alright?”

As Wendy waved goodbye, she left Stan to his daydreams. By pulling off his hat, Kyle snapped him out of those daydreams. He looked unamused by the lovestruck Stan, who was still sneaking glances at Wendy as he shoved the microphone and camera into his coat pocket.

“The one time in your eighteen years of living you fall in love, and it’s with a police officer completely out of your league? She’s probably married, dude.”

“She wasn’t wearing a ring. I checked,” Stan pointed out.

Kyle rolled his eyes, his arms folded across his chest. Once Craig and Tweek ran off, everyone else went their separate ways, so he decided to see what Stan was up to. He knew Stan strayed away from the group, but he needed to chew out Tweek before seeing what Stan was up to. What he didn’t expect to see was his best friend, for the first time, drooling over some woman he just met.

“Anyway… I overheard her say that you’ll be assisting her with something. What’s that about?”

Stan looks behind Kyle, then at his surroundings.

“Everyone left when Craig and Tweek ran off. Some weird shit happened, but I’ll tell you about it later,” Kyle explains with a sigh and a shrug. Though Kenny would’ve been the one injured if Craig hadn’t grabbed Tweek, Kyle was the second closest, making him shudder when he recalled his near death experience.

“Funny you mention them.” Stan looks around again, then back at Kyle. “I’m supposed to investigate their phones for some app or secret information or something. I don’t know what that’s about, but I want to help. It sounds really cool.”

“So you don’t want to just impress a police officer?”

Blushing, Stan shows off a goofy smile as he shoves his hands into his coat pockets. He pokes at the microphone lightly, hoping that he doesn’t activate it, but he doesn’t even know how it works. Will he be able to do his task properly, or will he just embarrass himself?

* * *

**10/02/2018 06:10 AM [Tucker Residence, Craig’s Room]**

It was too early for all of this noise.

Craig stared at the dark ceiling with squinted eyes. His mother was never this noisy when preparing for work, nor did she leave breakfast for everyone before she left anymore, so what’s with all the shuffling downstairs?

“What is that?” he asked Tweek, knowing that he was too much of a light sleeper to be able to sleep through the commotion.

He turned to his side and saw that Tweek wasn’t beside him. Struck by a rush of paranoia, Craig checked his phone to make sure Tweek was okay.

 **06:13 AM [My House, Kitchen]  
** Tweek is baking cookies.

Craig dragged himself out of bed and down the stairs to see his baggy pajama-clad boyfriend hard at work in the kitchen. From what he could see from the various mixing bowls coated in different color dough leftovers, Tweek had made several different types of cookies to match the varying tastes of his friends. When Tweek noticed him standing at the entrance to the kitchen, he flashed a small smile, then returned to his baking.

“I know you bake or craft when you’re anxious, but six in the morning? Come back to bed, babe. We don’t have school today. Or for a while, for that matter.”

“Let me finish baking first,” Tweek replied, placing two cookie sheets in the oven. “I can’t leave this on, you know.”

“What I don’t know is why you’re baking cookies at six in the morning. If you still need to keep yourself occupied, I can get the origami paper out. You can mess with that while I sleep.”

“I’m baking them now so I can bring them with me when we go to the amusement park. You can help clean up if you want me back sooner,” Tweek suggested, pointing to the mess of eggshells, flour, and other baking ingredients on the counter.

Craig yawned. He wasn’t fully awake, and he might just fall asleep on the couch if this conversation went on any longer.

“We could’ve bought some,” he pointed out.

“I want to make everyone cookies so they can hate me a little less.”

Though he was still exhausted, Craig was a little more awake than he was before. He walked to the counter closest to the oven and leaned on it.

“They don’t hate you, Tweek.”

“They’re angry with me, or at the very least, they’re afraid of me. I think baking their favorite kinds of cookies will help them forgive me... I hope.”

Tweek says that last line with a sad smile, then shakes his head. He walks to a paper cake box lined with sliced bread and reaches in to grab a plain sugar cookie.

“This one’s yours, Mr. ‘Nice and Boring’,” Tweek smirks, holding the cookie to Craig’s lips. “There’s more in the box, so make sure you defend them from the others.”

“You didn’t write my name on them with icing?” Craig jokes, taking a bite out of the soft cookie. He reaches past Tweek to grab two more.

“I’m just going to hope that everyone sticks to their favorites so I don’t have to deal with any arguing.”

Tweek walks to the box and begins shuffling the cookies around.

“Chocolate chip for Token, Jimmy, and Kyle, double chocolate for Clyde and Stan, and strawberry for Kenny and Butters. The strawberry is packaged mix because I didn’t know how to make them, but don’t tell them that,” Tweek requests with a wink. “Oh, and I set aside some sugar cookies for Tricia, so don’t eat them.”

“Surprised you managed to memorize all that. You wouldn’t even be able to remember everyone’s faces if you didn’t see them everyday.”

“Don’t make fun of me,” Tweek pouts, shoving Craig’s arm lightheartedly.

Tweek picks up his phone, which he left on the kitchen table, and opens up the diary while waiting for the cookies to continue baking. The entries won’t tell him how his friends will react, but he’s more interested in seeing whether he and Craig will get any alone time at the amusement park.

Craig puts a hand in front of his phone and bonks their foreheads together.

“Instead of seeing what I’ll do later, why don’t you pay attention to what I’m doing now?”

He pushes a sugar cookie onto Tweek’s lips, which Tweek saw coming. Giggling, Tweek tries to take the biggest bite out of the cookie as he can until it hits the corners of his mouth, prompting him to chomp down at the middle.

“Don’t set yourself up for innuendos you don’t want to hear,” Craig jokes, still holding the cookie by Tweek’s lips.

“It’s six in the morning, you sicko,” Tweek laughs, holding a hand over his mouth as he speaks while chewing.

* * *

**10/02/2018 12:04 PM [North Park Funland, Front Entrance]**

The sound of Butters calling their names led Craig and Tweek to the rest of the group. When they arrived, they were greeted by Butters and Kenny, the cheerful ones in the group. The rest of the group smiled at Craig, but they could only give a nod or an acknowledging glance at Tweek. Sensing the tension, Tweek held onto the plastic bag containing his cookie box tightly.

“Come on, guys!” Stan said with a wave of his hand towards the park. “We’re gonna forget about all the crazy stuff and just have fun today!”

“Wait, what’s in the bag, Tweek?” Butters questioned, pointing at it.

Tweek held out the bag in front of Butters to grab. When he did, Butters pulled out the box and opened it up.

“Bread?” he asked.

“No, that just keeps the cookies soft,” Tweek explained. He stacked the slices of bread to reveal the cookies hiding underneath. “I don’t know why it works, but it does.”

“I don’t care about science,” says Clyde, pushing everyone aside to grab a cookie. “I just heard cookies, so I tuned out everything else!”

“Not that I’m unappreciative, but why’d you make cookies?” Token wondered, grabbing a chocolate chip cookie for him and Jimmy.

Tweek fidgeted nervously with his shirt, looking down at the ground. Saying, “because I almost killed you guys yesterday” out loud just seemed way too awkward, and it might gain a lot of questioning looks from bystanders.

“They’re apology cookies,” Craig explained, rubbing his hand on Tweek’s shoulder. “He woke up at six in the morning to make them, so just forgive him so we can all move on with our lives.”

The boys all looked at each other and shared nods, shrugs, and smiles. Watching this, Tweek turned to Craig with a smile of his own.

“Just know that every one of you would do the same if someone you cared about was in danger,” Kenny mentioned, side-eyeing the group while picking up a strawberry cookie.

“We already forgive him, dude,” Kyle replied. “You don’t have to guilt trip us anymore.”

Kenny flashed his usual mysterious grin, which nobody could see through, yet nobody bothers to question it. He flashes it at Tweek, who is taken by surprise, but he stays silent as well.

* * *

**10/02/2018 02:10 PM [North Park Funland, Main Area]**

Stan was growing impatient. It’s been two hours, and neither Craig nor Tweek had pulled out their phones. He debates on whether or not to bring up Heidi, though he knows that doing so will ruin the joyful atmosphere he had worked hard to create for his friends.

 **Unknown:** How are things going?

He receives this message from Wendy, who he has listed without a caller ID for the sake of the investigation. He wonders if she had become bored listening to idle chatter and screams from adrenaline.

“Bros before hoes, Stan!” Clyde calls out, pointing at his phone. “This is a guys day out, dude!”

“Unless sh-she’s got single f-f-friends, then you’re obligated t-t-to introduce us,” says Jimmy, showing off a goofy smile.

“Whoa, no caller ID?” Kenny points out, gaining the rest of the group’s attention. “Stan’s got a hoe, you guys!”

“Shut up, Kenny. She’s just a group member for a project. I just didn’t care enough to put her name in my phone,” Stan lied, sending a quick “working on it” text to Wendy before shoving his phone into his pocket.

“Are you talking about Kelly? The blond girl?” Token asked.

“You’re into b-blondes, Stan?” Jimmy questions, grinning.

Kyle rolls his eyes as the boys harass Stan about Wendy. It’s obvious that Stan has had Wendy on his mind the whole time, but Kyle told himself that he wasn’t going to let it bother him. They had discussed Stan’s plan the night before, and even though he told Stan that he wasn’t going to help, he wondered if doing so would get Stan to finish his investigation quickly.

The subject dies down when Token pulls out a map and gathers everyone around to see where they want to go next. To get Stan’s attention, Kyle snaps his head around abruptly and stares at the people walking behind him.

“What’s wrong, Kyle?” Stan asks, unaware of Kyle’s plan.

“Nothing,” Kyle answered, turning back to face him. “I thought I saw that woman from yesterday just now, but I guess I was imagining it.

Carelessly, Tweek checks his phone in a panic. To his relief, he saw nothing about Heidi hurting Craig in his diary, but he didn’t notice Stan and Kyle catching a glimpse at the entries. Luckily, no one else in the group happened to notice him, as they were all focused on Kyle’s strange behavior.

“Dude, don’t scare us like that!” Clyde whines. “I want to have fun today, not think about the possibility of myself dying.”

“A-are you sure you just imagined it?” Tweek pressed worriedly, unaware that Kyle had seen his diary. “It’s important that you tell me if you actually saw her!”

“Hey, so what’s your deal with her, anyway?” Stan questioned. “Like, why is she after you guys?”

“Guys, we just want to have a worry-free day out right now,” Token sighed, though he’s curious about the answer as well.

“I don’t know!” Tweek huffed, balling his fists. “She was probably mad at me for attacking her, but she was flirting with Craig!”

“You were always very protective of Craig,” Kyle recalled, nodding in agreement.

It takes both Craig and Kenny to calm Tweek, Craig holding and stroking his hand and Kenny patting his back. Tweek knows why Heidi was really after him, but the thought of her trying to interfere with his relationship had his face glowing red.

With one glimpse at Tweek’s diary, Stan could see a whole page of entries dedicated to Craig. Though slightly disturbed, he texts this information to Wendy while the others attempted to help calm Tweek.

 **Stan** : I don’t know if this is helpful, but Tweek has a bunch of stuff written about Craig. There’s times next to the stuff written, but I didn’t get a good look at those.  
**Unknown** **[Wendy]** : All information is useful information. Keep an eye on Tucker’s phone as well. Thank you for your hard work.

Stan bites the insides of his lips to prevent himself from grinning over the praise he had received. He slips his phone back into his pocket and attempts to push the conversation further.

“But where did she come from? She pops in and out of sight, and she decides to flirt with Craig of all people? What’s that all about?”

Stan’s lucky to have Kyle playing along, because the first person to call someone out for asking invasive questions like these would be him. The others tend to act as bystanders, watching as the plot thickens in front of them.

“My boy’s an attractive dude! No homo,” Clyde claims, patting Craig on the back.

Clyde glances at Tweek for a moment to see how if he reacted to his comment, but Tweek was too busy practicing breathing exercises with Craig to regain his composure. They seem to have decided that they weren’t going to create another scene and just allow the guys to talk about what happened.

“Tweek, Clyde just said Craig’s attractive,” Kenny teases, gaining a terrified look from Clyde. “You should hit him.”

Tweek, finally calm, only clings to Craig’s arm in response. “Clyde knows his place,” he claims, which Clyde lets out a sigh of relief to.

“I know better than to get in between Tweek and his man,” Clyde admits.

For a moment, Craig stares at Stan, making Stan wonder if he caught on to his plan.

“You’re bringing up unnecessary topics,” Craig says, staring at Stan for a few more seconds before planting a small kiss on Tweek’s head.

“Sorry, sorry! I didn’t mean to start anything. I was just curious after hearing about her, but I’ll drop it, I promise,” Stan apologizes, holding his hands up to surrender.

* * *

**10/02/2018 04:14 PM [North Park Funland, East Area]**

Even with friends around, Craig and Tweek were inseparable. They weren’t inconsiderate enough to make out in front of them and make them really uncomfortable, but they weren’t shy about holding hands and flirting. It didn’t take long for someone, namely Kyle, to consider letting them wander off on their own.

 **Kyle** : Is your investigation over yet? Those two have been flirting for the past 20 minutes, and I’m this close to punching them.  
**Stan** : Almost. I just need to find out some stuff about Craig’s phone.

Without drawing too much attention to himself, Stan kept a close eye on Craig. He and Kyle walked behind the couple, forcing them to listen to the mushy pet names and playful banter.

 _Pull out your phone, asshole!_ Stan thought to himself, staring daggers at Craig. He was surprised that Tweek hasn’t noticed his staring by now, making their flirting the only plus side to this situation.

Finally, he caught something that could be useful to him.

“Do you think everyone will want to leave soon?” Tweek whispered. “I want us to spend some time here alone.”

He pulled out Wendy’s chat and began tapping his fingers at the bottom of his phone, away from the keyboard.

“Let me check,” Craig answered, turning to Stan for a moment before opening up his diary. “Looks like in a couple of minutes, Kyle will get angry about our flirting and take everyone with him.”

“Good,” Tweek smiles, amplifying the flirting by nuzzling his head into Craig’s arm.

Stan wants to question what Craig meant by that, but he decides to pass the information on to Wendy first.

 **Stan** : I think Craig is writing about what goes on around him. Does that help?  
**Unknown (Wendy)** : Yes, thank you. That will be all for today. You’ve given me plenty to work with.

He has no idea how this information is helpful, but Stan chooses to let Wendy deal with the complicated stuff. Meanwhile, Kyle presses the home button on Stan’s phone, closing his chat.

“Done?” he whispers.

“I am, now that you did that,” Stan whispers back. He wants to be annoyed by Kyle’s behavior, but without his help, he might have had much more trouble gathering the information that Wendy needed.

“Good...” Kyle says aloud, then points to Tweek and Craig. “...because I am getting really tired of these two.”

“Yeah, it sucks to be single,” Craig teases, releasing his hand from Tweek’s to give him a hug from behind.

The rest of the group rolls their eyes at them. They’ve all come to tolerate the couple, but as Kyle said, it does get tiring to watch when you’re single.

“We’ll just leave you guys be if you want to make this a date or whatever. Come on guys, let’s go on that,” Kyle suggests, pointing to the roller coaster nearby.

The group agrees, waving goodbye to the couple. All but Kenny, who stands in front of them with a flirtatious grin.

“If you guys decide to get freaky, text me when and where!” he teases before waving goodbye and chasing after Butters.

Tweek blushes from Kenny’s comment and immediately checks his phone to see if anything like that happens. Like before, Craig covers his phone with his hand.

“Wouldn’t you rather be surprised, instead of knowing ahead of time?”

“Craig, we can’t do something like that _here_! I mean… I’ve always thought…”

His face reddens as he speaks. He shakes his head, trying to push back the inappropriate thoughts.

“I mean… We should be at home during the first…”

“Babe,” Craig interrupts. “We're not going to do it in an amusement park. I promise.”

Tweek nods, and they begin walking aimlessly.

“Unless you want to go home right now--”

“No!” Tweek exclaimed suddenly. “I-I mean… I’m not ready for that, so…”

Craig pats Tweek’s head, shushing him softly as he smooths down his hair.

“I know, honey. I’m not forcing you, so don’t worry. Just tell me what ride you want to go on.”

Taking a deep breath to calm himself, Tweek covers his eyes, spins around, then randomly points to the teacup ride. He comes to regret this action within the next few minutes.

“Holy shit… We should spin that thing so fast that we fly off, just like in that one video!” Craig suggests excitedly, dragging Tweek in line.

“If you make me throw up, I swear to god, I will throw up in your hat,” Tweek threatens.

* * *

**10/02/2018 04:23 PM [North Park Funland, Outside Spinning Teacups]**

Craig ended up being the one to throw up in the nearest trash can. They didn’t spin fast enough to detach their teacup from the ride, but from an outsider’s perspective, they were just a blur, spinning so fast that Tweek worried about the wind ripping out his hair.

He’d be lying if he said he didn’t have fun, and more so if he said he said he didn’t give in to Craig’s whining halfway throughout the ride. “Pull that wheel harder, you pussy!” was all that Tweek needed to hear to activate his competitive nature, compelling him to put as much strength as possible into every turn. He became determined to make Craig the one to throw up, which proved to be successful. The only downside was the friction burns on his hands, which made it painful to ball his hands into fists.

“Okay, babe. You made your point,” says a staggering Craig.

His head reels as he tries to stand up straight. He holds his arms out in front of Tweek, who holds him up by the shoulders.

“Now give me a kiss.”

“You literally just threw up in the garbage. Wash out your mouth and go eat a handful of mints before you come anywhere near my mouth.”

“Alright. Wait here, I’ll be right back.”

Craig runs off to the restroom. Once he’s out of sight, Tweek pulls out his phone and smiles at an upcoming entry.

 **04:38 PM [North Park Funland, Planetarium]  
** Craig is excited about the new planetarium. I can’t wait to see it with him!

Even if Tweek didn’t know when exactly the two were going to separate from their friends, he knew that it was going to happen, so he prepared two things for them to do ahead of time. The first was the planetarium that opened up only a couple of months ago. As soon as he heard about it, Tweek instantly thought of Craig and how he would like to bring him there on a date.

“He’s going to be soooo happy,” Tweek mumbles to himself, imitating Craig’s old catchphrase.

* * *

**10/02/2018 04:45 PM [North Park Funland, Planetarium]**

Craig’s eyes sparkled when the giant, dome-shaped screen projected what seemed like thousands or maybe millions of stars that moved slowly above him, almost as if he were watching the real thing. The pre-recorded voice began describing the sight. Stars, moons, planets, constellations. All of it was fascinating to Craig, who listened attentively to the presentation.

As relaxing as it was to stare at the artificial night sky, Tweek was more enamored watching Craig. With his cheek on Craig’s shoulder, Tweek watched Craig’s lips move as he repeated terms he had already learned in his astronomy class.

 _Andromeda. Cygnus. Draco. Ursa Minor._ That’s what he thinks Craig mouthed, anyway. He wasn’t paying attention to the presentation.

 _“Perseus. Cassiopeia. Camelopardalis. Ursa Major.”_ Craig begins to say the names of the constellations softly, repeating after the presentator.

“ _Lyra. Hercules. Bootes. Canes Venatici.”_ He notices Tweek staring up at him dreamily.

“Are you paying attention?” he whispers.

“Ah… I didn’t know there was going to be a presentation,” Tweek whispers back. “I wanted to listen to _you_ talk about this stuff, actually.”

He looks back at all of the other people in the room, pouting.

“I wish we were alone, too.”

“Well, there’s two ideas I can think of,” Craig begins. “Either we venture into the woods for a spot with as little artificial light as possible in order to get a clear look at the night sky, or…”

He kisses Tweek on the forehead, surprising him.

“One of us can get the other a projector for their birthday, then I can talk about space as much as you want.”

Tweek returns the kiss by giving Craig a peck on the cheek.

“My birthday already passed, so I better start saving up,” he points out, smiling.

The boys look back at the ceiling, watching as the projection shows the sky from a new set of coordinates. Tweek leans on Craig and rests his head on his shoulder, his vision blurring as he falls asleep.

* * *

**10/28/2016 03:13 PM [Tweak Residence, Tweek’s Room]**

“Let’s get married.”

Dumbfounded, Tweek stared at Craig with his eyes squinted and his mouth slightly agape.

“Craig… You have the worst timing…”

The boys hid in Tweek’s room when they heard a car park outside of the house. Both of Tweek’s parents were home, so they were curious to see who had come to visit. As soon as they saw a police vehicle, they shut the curtains and left the door open just a crack to hear what was going on.

Several years prior, Tweek learned just what was inside his coffee, but the thought of being sent to an orphanage and away from Craig if his parents were arrested kept him silent. He hoped they were here for a different reason, but those hopes were shattered immediately. He heard them say something about an illegal substance, and he knew all too well what that meant for him.

But here Craig was, holding on to his hand tightly and trying to be romantic at an inappropriate time like always.

“No, you don’t understand,” Craig tried to explain in a hushed tone, also aware of the situation. “If we get married, you can move into my house! They can’t take you away!”

“We’re sixteen, Craig!” Tweek hissed. “We can’t get married!”

“We can plead to the judge. Everyone wants us to get married anyway, so why not now?” Craig reasoned calmly. “I’ve wanted to marry you for some time now, so it all works out.”

Craig’s blunt comment turned Tweek into a confused, blushing mess, leaving him unable to hear the footsteps coming up the stairs over the screaming in his head. One of the officers knocked on the door and asked for them to come out, which Craig complied to, leading Tweek over to the door with their hands still holding on to one another.

“Please come downstairs with us, boys,” the officer instructed.

The boys followed the officer as they led them to Tweek’s parents, who were already handcuffed.

“Young man,” the officer addressed Tweek. “We’re calling Child Protective Services to come pick you up, so please wait here.”

“Can I take him to my house first?” Craig asked, thinking fast. “There’s something I want to give him.”

The officer looked to his partner, who shrugged in response.

“Just drop them off while I take these two to the station,” the partner replied.

Craig and Tweek hopped into the back of the police car. Unaware of Craig’s plan, yet not wanting to ruin it, Tweek looked up at Craig for unspoken reassurance with his hand in his. Craig kept his gaze forward, though he rubbed Tweek’s hand with his thumb, calming him.

Once they reached the house, the boys hopped out of the car. The officer explained that he would be waiting outside, so they should hurry. Once they turned away from the car, Craig began to set his plan in motion.

The first person he sought out was his father, who was sitting on the couch while watching television. Startled when Craig slammed the door behind him, Thomas watched as Craig, while dragging Tweek along, ran up to him in a panic.

“Dad, you have to help us!” he pleaded, using the same hushed tone as before. “Tweek’s parents are getting arrested, so you have to convince the police to let Tweek live with us!”

Overwhelmed by the sudden wave of information, Thomas put a hand to his head, then told Craig to wait as he retrieved Laura. Once he explained the situation to her, she looked at Craig with a look of concern, then to Tweek, then to their intertwined fingers.

Craig attempted to look as pitiful as possible to try to persuade his mother. Tweek, touched by how desperate Craig was being just to keep him by his side, squeezed his hand tighter.

* * *

**10/02/2018 05:40 PM [North Park Funland, Ferris Wheel]**

After the planetarium, Tweek chose their last ride of the day: the ferris wheel, which happened to be his favorite. He didn’t mind the rollercoasters the boys had him ride earlier, but he enjoys the slow movement of the ferris wheel more, especially when Craig was sitting beside him.

When they boarded the passenger car, Tweek stared straight ahead silently, daydreaming about Craig’s “proposal”. He giggles quietly to himself, prompting Craig to nudge his head with his shoulder.

“What are you thinking about?” Craig asks.

As he sits upright and smiles widely, a small blush dusts across Tweek’s cheeks.

“Something that you said a couple years ago,” he replies.

“And what would that be?”

“You said you wanted to marry me for some time now...” Tweek grins, poking Craig’s cheek with his index finger. “...when my parents were getting arrested, remember? You’re such a sap.”

Craig grabs the hand poking his face and pulls it back, pulling Tweek’s face close to his for a quick peck on the lips. He presses their foreheads together, taking in the playful gaze in Tweek’s sparkling emerald eyes.

“I totally meant that. I hope you know,” he said softly.

The warm breath on his face sent chills down Tweek’s spine, turning his blush darker as he continued to stare into Craig’s electrifying blues. He freed his hand from Craig’s grip and wrapped his arms around Craig’s neck.

“You really want to marry me?”

“I don’t have a ring right now, but definitely. I love you.”

“I love you too.”

Tangling his hands in Tweek’s hair, Craig pulls him in for another kiss. Tweek leans back, dragging Craig with him until he hits his back on the seat, though his head is still protected by Craig’s hands.

Using his elbows to prop him up, Craig keeps his hands in Tweek’s hair as he continues to kiss him. Their bodies are pressed together in a rather awkward position, where Tweek is lying down on his back as his legs hang off the seat from his earlier sitting position, and Craig is lying on Tweek, but he’s relying on upper body strength to hold him up so that he doesn’t crush him.

Craig isn’t oblivious to the fact that sexual tension has taken over, but rather he just didn’t care at this moment, despite them being in public. He tuned out the world around him to focus on the boy smiling and humming on his mouth. He could tell that Tweek wanted this as much as he did, seeing how the past few days were an absolute mess, and they didn’t have any time to themselves that wasn’t full of danger and reasonable paranoia. At this moment, it was only the two of them, and Craig didn’t mind the intrusive thought of knocking out whoever comes to interrupt them.

Tweek feels his bottom lip being bitten, so he gladly parts his lips to allow Craig’s tongue to slip in, letting out a small chuckle while doing so. When he removes his arms from Craig’s neck, Tweek moves to his waist, running his hands down the fabric of Craig’s jacket. One of Tweek’s hands plays with the ends of Craig’s hair by the nape of his neck while the other slips up Craig’s shirt, feeling the heated skin on his lower back.

Craig lets out a low groan from Tweek’s blunt nails running up his back. He pulls away from his lips and pressed light kisses on the side of Tweek’s neck, eliciting a high pitched moan when he nibbles down on the soft flesh.

Tweek pushes him off by the forehead with a pout, placing a hand on his neck where Craig had bitten.

“I can’t hide it if you put it _there!_ ” he whined.

“Sorry, babe,” said Craig, only sounding mildly apologetic.

Craig leaned down to undo the top two buttons of Tweek’s shirt and tugged it to the side, exposing his shoulder. Before he could press his lips to it, Tweek pressed a hand to his face, stopping him.

“We should probably stop,” he suggests, his eyes glaring at the passenger car above theirs. “I’m feeling uncomfortable.”

Two dark haired girls had their faces and phones pressed to the windows. Even when Tweek was looking straight at them, they continued to stare, the smile on their faces indicating that they saw nothing creepy and invasive about their actions.

The boys sat up straight and smoothed out their hair and clothes. Tweek refused to do anything intimate while being stared at, but he had no problem with resting his head on Craig’s shoulder for the remainder of the ride. Craig followed suit, resting his head on top of Tweek’s. The two stared straight ahead, watching the sunset poke through the window across from them. The orange and pink hues of the sky bathed the two in a warm light, almost making them feel drowsy. They waited until they reached the bottom before returning home.

* * *

**10/02/2018 09:23 PM [Tucker Residence, Craig’s Room]**

While Craig was in the shower, Tweek sat on his bed, scowling at his phone.

 **Tweek** : Why did you have Stan spy on us today?  
**Wendy** : I wanted to know what kind of diaries you two had, and I knew you wouldn’t tell me, so I had a friend of yours assist me.  
**Tweek** : You’re giving me less of a reason to trust you.  
**Wendy** : I needed this information to make sure that I can trust _you._  I have the Investigation Diary, which lists every detail I need to know about cases I’ve been assigned to. Craig has the Observation Diary, which records everything he sees. You have the Craig Tucker Diary, which records everything he does. Now that I’ve told you this, can you trust me?  
**Tweek** : You had someone spy on our diaries! Now they know our secret!  
**Wendy** : This is Stan Marsh we’re talking about. He won’t be a threat to you. I can promise you that.  
**Tweek** : How can you be so sure?  
**Wendy** : It’s part of my training to detect lies. That guy? He couldn’t get a lie past me even if his life depended on it. Don’t worry about him.  
**Wendy** : I promise you that I only want to end the game, and I’ll need yours and Craig’s help to do so.  
**Tweek** : I’m still undecided, but you’re on thin ice.  
**Wendy** : Glad to hear it. I’ll let you two know when I have a task for you to assist me with.

“You alright?” Craig asks, watching Tweek place his phone on the table and fall backwards onto the bed.

“I just can’t trust her,” Tweek confesses, sighing. “You understand, right?”

Craig lied beside him, his legs hanging off the bed just like Tweek’s.

“I think for the time being, we should trust her. Allies are important, but it’ll be you and me until the very end. Let’s just worry about ourselves and relax, alright? It’s been a long day.”

“Yeah,” Tweek smiles, grabbing onto Craig’s hand. “Let’s just rest for now.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jimmy has prosthetic legs in this fic because there will be a lot of running around and escaping soon. Can’t let my boi die from moving too slowly, now can I? That aside, I hope you were satisfied with my attempt at a Creek amusement park date. 
> 
> Please look forward to the next chapter!


	4. Under Pressure

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh boy. Many of you guys are going to realize that having a favorite character is a terrible idea when reading this fic. Try not to get too attached to them.

******10/11/2018 07:26 PM [Abandoned Circuit City, 1st Floor]**

With the press of a button, hundreds of teenagers, college students, and adults lined up to stand before their employer: a blonde, teenage boy wearing a steel helmet that framed his face, an eye mask with only one opening for his right eye, steel coated gloves, and a cape. On a worn out black office chair, the boy sat in front of several monitors that displayed various areas around South Park.

“Cease your chaos for today, minions,” the boy commanded. “I have a new task for you.”

Each minion pulled out their cell phone. The boy sends the group a mass text that says, “locate and capture the diary users”.

“Go undercover and kidnap any user you find. They must have a diary. Do not bring me anyone useless.”

“Yes sir!” they all said in unison, their words echoing throughout the building.

As they left, the boy spun in his chair to face the monitors. He had no leads to any diary users, and the citizens that appeared on the hidden cameras gave no hints.

South Park used to be a small town, but when PC culture took over and the Whole Foods market was built eight years ago, the town’s attractiveness shot up, leading to an influx of new citizens from different towns and cities moving in. Forests were chopped down to create more houses, more apartments were introduced, and business was booming with every new job opportunity that opened up from new business owners bringing their companies over to the small mountain town. Perfect for a boy in need of as many minions as possible.

The downside to this was, of course, the survival game.

 **10/13/2018 02:30 AM [Abandoned Circuit City, 1st Floor]  
** Professor Chaos is killed by the twelfth diary user.  
**—DEAD END—**

With the increase in population, tracking down specific individuals will prove to be more difficult.

“You won’t defeat me, Twelfth,” Chaos growled, scowling at his tablet. “My minions will definitely capture you. I’ll make sure of it!”

He leaned back in his chair, holding the tablet above his face. While protected by a tough, magnetic case, his diary could see everything his minions could see, but none of the entries revealed whether or not Twelfth has been captured. He supposes that this could be because the Twelfth would have to reveal their number for them to know who they were.

“Hm?”

 **10/13/2018 01:58 AM [Abandoned Circuit City, Outside]  
** [Minion #132] Mysterion is spotted on the roof of the headquarters.

“Could it be you, Mysterion?”

Chaos chuckles. He pulls his knees up to his chest and hugs them, holding his tablet in front of his face as he rereads the entry again and again.

“At least show me your true identity before you kill me, my dear Mysterion.”

* * *

**10/11/2018 09:37 PM [Park County Police Department, 2nd Floor]**

Wendy let out a long sigh, leaning back in her chair. The Chaos Minions have been causing havoc for the past several days, yet none of them have been captured. She pinches the bridge of her nose in annoyance at the incompetence of her fellow officers.

Ever since she became Chief of Police after the retirement of Sergeant Yates last year, his direct subordinates refused to follow her direct orders due to her gender, forcing her to train several of her lower-ranked friends to bring them up to her level. Yates’s old team took the case of capturing and arresting Professor Chaos, but they have yet to bring in any satisfactory results, despite the number of days that have passed.

_There’s hundreds of minions! How have they not caught one?!_

Frustrated, Wendy leans forward, propping herself up on her desk with her elbows. She pulls out her diary for any leads.

 **09:42 PM [Park County Police Department, 2nd Floor]  
** Red and I decided to take over the Professor Chaos case.

Behind her, Wendy could hear footsteps approaching. She closes her diary and spins on her chair to face Officer Marshall, who’s wearing the same frustrated expression as she did only seconds ago.

“Chief, the other team has yet to bring back any information on Chaos’s whereabouts. Isn’t it about time that we take matters into our own hands?”

“They’ve been questioning my leadership after I failed to apprehend Heidi Turner,” Wendy sighed, frowning. “If the rest of the girls can assist us, we can capture Chaos on our own, and then I’ll get some damn respect around here.”

“Well, get ready for some good news.”

Marshall waves over several female officers, all of them a good friend and supporter of Wendy’s. They all stand with their hands to their sides and a determined smile on their faces.

“We’re not going to let those guys continue to push us around,” said Officer Daniels, smiling proudly at Wendy.

“Red… Nichole… Everybody…” Wendy could feel herself welling up with emotion, but she refused to shed a tear. “Thank you, everyone. Now get out there and find a lead!”

* * *

**10/11/2018 10:17 PM [Main Street, Outside]**

“Excuse me, sir,” Nichole called out to a man in a grey coat.

The woman he had been stalking ran behind Red, who had tagged along with Nichole.

“He’s been following me for several blocks, officers!” the woman at the verge of tears claimed, pointing at the man. “Please, get him away from me!”

Red stood in front of the man while Nichole watched his back. With nowhere to run, the man panicked, dropping to his knees with his hands in the air.

“Please!” he cried. “Please don’t arrest me! I have a wife and kids to support!”

“Why were you following this woman?” Nichole questioned.

The man turned his head towards her, his arms still in the air. He could see the merciless aura hiding underneath Nichole’s calm expression, causing him to crack under pressure.

“I… I’ve been paid to locate someone…”

“Sheesh, if they’re this easy to crack, then I’m pretty sure those other guys were just goofing around,” Red commented, rolling her eyes.

“No kidding,” Nichole agrees, shaking her head.

She pulls out her notebook and continues her interrogation.

“Now, what exactly were you trying to locate?”

The man sighed, knowing fully well that his job will be terminated once they find out he had been divulging information. He didn’t know much about his boss, but someone with the power to see the future will certainly discover his disloyalty in due time.

“My boss wants me to find a user…” he confessed. “I don’t know what that means, but it has something to do with cell phones.”

“I don’t know what a user is, but I’m not one of them!” the woman pleaded, holding out her phone for everyone to see. “I’m just making a schedule, see?”

Nichole made a note of the woman’s schedule before moving on to her next question.

“Sir, may I please see some ID?”

Quickly, the man fished out his wallet and handed Nichole his driver’s license with a shaky hand. He then resumed his position of putting his hands in the air.

“Alright, final question,” she said, taking a picture of the ID with her phone before returning it to him. “Where can we find your boss?”

* * *

**10/11/2018 10:21 PM [Abandoned Circuit City, 1st Floor]**

The static sound of change alerted Chaos, who quickly opened up his diary on his tablet.

 **10:21 PM [Main Street, Outside]  
** [Minion #105] Phone is destroyed.

“Huh?” Chaos gasped, looking at the new entry. “Are you betraying me, Minion?!”

He turned to the red-haired teenager to his right.

“General Disarray, what could this mean? Do you think he was arrested?!”

“That’s unlikely,” Disarray answers. “The police are incompetent. We’ve been at this for almost two weeks, and they haven’t caught any of us. I saw many of them watch our minions go by without even batting an eye.”

Chaos checks his diary again, rereading the entry. The other minions haven’t reported anything about the police, so he decides to toss the theory out.

“Perhaps they were caught by Mysterion…” he wonders.

“Should we move our headquarters, then?” Disarray asked.

“No,” Chaos replies. “Let Mysterion come here on his own.”

* * *

**10/12/2018 11:38 AM [Tucker Residence, Craig’s Room]**

Without school to worry about for the time being, Craig and Tweek spent their days goofing around, and today was no exception. Figuring they’d be safe in their own home, Tweek watched as Craig failed repeatedly to jump onto a platform in the game he was playing.

“God, you’re hopeless. Let me do it,” Tweek laughed, trying to take the controller from Craig.

Craig blocked off Tweek’s hands with his back, shielding the controller. “No, I can do it,” he claimed, focusing harder on his timing.

Though he knew it was better this way, Tweek couldn’t help but notice how quiet it’s been lately. No users have come after them since the Heidi incident, and Wendy hasn’t informed them of anything new related to her mission to stop Heidi and the game.

Noticing Tweek’s odd silence, Craig paused the game and gave him a pat on the back.

“What’s on your mind, babe?” he asked, now rubbing his shoulder.

“Isn’t it strange that Testaburger hasn’t said anything to us in a while?”

“I wouldn’t blame her, honestly. She’s trying to capture the Ninth. That’s going to be a pain. Besides, she’s an officer, and that’s only a personal project, I think. She might have other things to take care of.”

“Other things? Think she might be too focused on capturing other users right now?”

“I think she would only know of them if they were causing trouble. The serial killer case is done and over with since you defeated the Third, so that just leaves the Chaos Minions thing.”

Tweek remembered the two of them being nearby during Red and Nichole’s interrogation of a man in a gray coat. He had said something about locating a user, so there’s no doubt that he and Craig would be in danger if they wandered around with their diaries open at night.

“I’m telling you, that Chaos guy _has_ to be a user,” Tweek insisted, leaning on Craig as he stared at the television screen. “Remember what we saw last night? I’m positive that the guy being interrogated was looking for a user for Chaos. We can’t be out late at night, Craig.”

“I know, babe. I didn’t plan on it, anyway.”

Still doubtful, Tweek plopped his head into Craig’s lap, groaning loudly.

“Now that I think about it, if those officers pass on the message of their findings to Testaburger, she’ll go after Chaos, right? That’s one less user to worry about, right? Craig, tell me I’m right.”

Craig paused the game and pushed Tweek back into his sitting position so he could put his hands on his shoulders.

“You’re scared, and I understand that. We’re dealing with a shitty situation, but we have people we can rely on, so that makes it much less shitty. We also have each other, right?”

“Right,” Tweek agreed, nodding.

“I won’t lie to you and say everything will be okay, but I can promise you that you’ll always have me by your side. Do you believe me?”

“I believe you,” Tweek answered, grabbing onto one of Craig’s hands and covering it with both of his. “I’ll always be on your side, too! I’ll do anything and everything I can to keep you safe!”

Hearing those words struck a nerve, but Craig wasn’t going to show Tweek any signs of discomfort. He trusts Tweek and wholeheartedly believes that they will make it to the end together, but there was something about Tweek’s behavior towards the situation that he noticed ever since the Third was defeated.

_“I’ll protect you. I’ll do anything and everything I can to keep you safe from them. No matter what.”_

Tweek jumped through phases of panic to outright determination for murder—if that’s how disappearing into oblivion can be referred as—in an instant, and for Craig, it was almost unsettling. It’s as if Tweek knew more about the game than he did, and he suspected that the voices Tweek heard every now and then were doing more than just helping him defeat his enemies. What if Tweek was hiding something from him?

_No, no, he would never. Tweek would never hide anything from me. He’s an open book. He can’t lie to me…_

_Right?_

Craig pulled Tweek into a tight hug. Though initially confused, Tweek was more than happy to return it, wrapping his arms around Craig as he assumed the only intention behind the action was comfort.

_I know Tweek. I’ve known and loved him for years. I was there for everything, and he trusts me completely._

So why was he questioning his behavior? There was nothing strange about it. Like Kyle said at the amusement park, Tweek was always very protective of him.

So protective that Tweek would put the lives of others beneath his love’s.

_Fuck._

“From now on… I want you to be more mindful of who is involved during certain situations,” Craig instructed, holding Tweek close.

“What’s this about?”

“Tweek… I took your side that day because I love you, and I know you were trying to save me, but remember that my friends are also _your_ friends as well. They’re not terrible people, so I kinda don’t want to see them die, you know?”

Tweek’s heart nearly stopped there and then. He had prayed that Craig would forget about that incident, but now he’s come to realize that Craig had been thinking about it all this time. Not only that, but he was clearly disappointed in him for risking his— _their_ —friends’ lives.

_What’s happening? Why am I being so selfish all of a sudden?_

He loves his friends, and he even thought of them when trying to avoid setting off the explosions, yet all he could think about was Craig. When did Craig become the only thing he cared about?

It wasn’t right.

None of this was right.

_It’s all that damn game’s fault._

“I understand.”

Breaking away from the hug, Tweek took a deep breath before facing Craig.

“I want to stop the game too. I’ll help Fourth put an end to this stupid game once and for all. We can live peacefully once it’s all over.”

“That’s what I like to hear,” Craig encouraged, grinning widely at Tweek. “I’ll help out too, obviously, so I’ll try not to get captured again like some helpless idiot.”

* * *

**10/12/2018 12:57 PM [Tucker Residence, Kitchen]**

Craig was just way too careless. At least this wasn’t a dangerous situation.

Because he was too busy digging for snacks in the fridge, he left his phone on the kitchen table, making it vulnerable to being snatched away by none other than his little sister, who immediately began scrolling through his messages. Tweek didn’t notice either, as he was occupied with washing dishes, but his ears perked up when he heard Tricia call out a name he had temporarily forgotten.

“Hey Craig, who’s Wendy?” Tricia asked, pointing out the notification that had just appeared on Craig’s screen.

“Who the fuck is Wendy?” Tweek spat, his jealousy taking over as he spun around to glare at his boyfriend.

Craig folded his arms and stared at Tweek until he finally realized who they were talking about. Embarrassed, Tweek went back to quietly completing his chores.

“Wendy Testaburger. Chief of Police. You point at her when she appears on the news and say that you want to know her secret for taking over the police force at a young age,” Craig told Tricia as he pulled out sandwich ingredients.

“Wow, that’s so cool! Oh, and she says she needs you to come down to the station as soon as possible.”

Tweek wiped off his hands and pulled his phone out of his pocket. She had sent the message to the both of them, though aside from what Tricia had stated, there was no further information on why they were needed in the first place. Was this about Heidi or Chaos? Either way, they didn’t have time to mess around.

“What’s going on? Are you being arrested? Can I come? I want to meet her!”

“Sorry Tricia, but it’s very important that you don’t,” Tweek explained, holding out a hand for her to put Craig’s phone in. Lucky for Tweek, she liked him more than her brother, making it easier for her to comply.

“If Mom asks, we’re out with friends,” Craig instructed.

He took his phone from Tweek, then after grabbing the necessities, the two hurried out the door, leaving Tricia alone with her imagination.

“Stupid Craig,” she grumbled, folding her arms with a pout. “You never tell me anything.”

* * *

**10/12/2018 01:23 PM [Park County Police Station, 2nd Floor Conference Room]**

It was obvious that Wendy had called them over to discuss the Chaos case. It was written in Craig’s diary, after all, which he checked once they arrived at the station. Tweek had reminded him to be very careful when using the diary in public, now that Chaos’s minions were searching for users.

In contrast to his focused and very determined boyfriend, Craig’s eyes wandered around the room. A table stood between the couple and Wendy, which had two case files and several documents in a stack next to them. Behind her was a blank projector screen, which she had the remote to. When the boys took their seats, Wendy looked up from her phone with a welcoming smile.

“Good to see you again, boys. It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

“What can we do for you?” Tweek asked, doing his best to suppress his initial feelings of distrust towards the officer.

“I’m glad you’re willing to cooperate now! Anyway, we’ll cut to the chase.”

Wendy pushed a button on the remote to bring up a picture of Professor Chaos with a few small mugshots of his minions on the bottom right corner of the screen.

“From what I’ve learned from my diary’s entries, it seems that we’re dealing with the sixth user.”

Next to Chaos’s picture was all the available information Wendy had gathered of him, the first being physical statistics. He had the appearance of a blonde, teenage boy around 5’7” to 5’9”. His mask showed one blue eye, though the other was covered. The boys noticed that he had a striking resemblance to Butters, though the deathly glare in Chaos’s eye wasn’t one they had ever seen, nor pictured on their friend.

“As you can see here,” Wendy explained, waving a laser pointer at the next set of information. “This is a list of places he personally has vandalized. What his vendetta against this town is, we’ll find out once we capture and interrogate him.”

 _Elementary, middle, and high school,_ Craig noted, wondering why these were all targets. The other areas didn’t strike him as possible clues, so he ignored them.

“One of his minions that we’ve captured and arrested have leaked Chaos’s base of operations.” She clicks to the next slide, revealing an image of the abandoned Circuit City. “The abandoned Circuit City on the far east side of town. The other minions that we’ve arrested have been spotted nearby this building, so it’s safe to assume that the information we’ve received is correct.”

“So how are we going to capture him? I doubt he’ll let us wander inside without any intention of joining him,” Tweek noted, turning to Craig for affirmation.

“I have a plan, but…”

Wendy looks to Craig without another word. Taking the hint, Tweek checked his entries for answers, then sent Wendy a baffled expression.

“You want to use Craig as _bait_ _?!_ "

Alarmed, Craig stared wide-eyed at Wendy as well.

“Actually, I was going to use all three of us to lure out the minions by using our diaries openly, but judging by that reaction, I take it that Tucker is the one who will be captured.”

“Great,” Craig mutters, pulling out his diary as well. “Just when I said I wasn’t going to get captured again, I get captured again.”

Reading off of her own diary, Wendy can see the exact time and place the kidnapping occurs, just like Tweek. Unlike Tweek however, Wendy doesn’t see a problem with this plan.

“There’s no need to worry,” she assures. “I’ll have my team block off all escape routes once you arrive at the base, but we have to make sure that Chaos is actually there. According to my diary, he will be, but we have to stick to the time stamps listed by the entries to ensure everything runs smoothly. The future changing on us could be detrimental to his capture.”

She walks over to Tweek with her arms folded across her chest, but Tweek doesn’t buckle down under her serious stare. Instead, he meets it with a glare in response to her having the nerve to put his love in danger.

“Because Chaos can change the future if he feels that he is cornered, we cannot show him that we are a threat to him. If you so much as _plan_ to act out of line, his diary will see it, so make sure we’re sticking to my plan, alright?"

Tweek folded his arms with a dissatisfied huff, considering the idea of taking back what he said to Craig about helping Wendy.

_If all goes well, Craig would surely forgive me for the school bombing, right?_

To Tweek, that was the only thing that would get him to go along with a plan that puts Craig in danger. That, and Craig’s opinion.

He turned to Craig, waiting for him to disapprove of the plan. Craig’s the one with the short end of the stick, so he definitely would oppose. That was the logical reason, Tweek believed.

“That’s fine by me. We’ll help you, right babe?”

There goes Tweek’s logical reasoning.

“But… You’re going to be captured, sweetheart. Doesn’t that worry you?”

“I mean, it doesn’t sound fun, but we can end the game faster if we get rid of the other diary users. Isn’t that what you wanted?”

_Of course he would use that against me._

Tweek read his entries again. Thankfully, aside from Craig being captured, there’s no signs of him being hurt or killed. If the future stays just like this, he won’t have much to worry about.

“Explain the plan,” Tweek sighed, leaning back in his chair.

* * *

**10/12/2018 01:25 PM [Cathedral of Causality]**

Heidi had a list of complaints about the Cathedral, namely its lack of inhabitants. It was just a large, empty room with the God of Time and Space sitting in the center while observing the actions of each diary member through various screens floating around him.

While Heidi could create anything to keep her entertained and happy, she found life on Earth to be much more exciting, that being why she escaped so often. She floated around the room on her back aimlessly, staring at the same page of the book she held in front of her.

It didn’t take long for her to become bored of reading, so she flew by the god’s side, standing straight with her arms behind her back.

“Look at that, Eric,” she said, pointing to one of the screens. “First, Second, and Fourth are planning to take down Sixth.”

“And Sixth is in his pacifist form right now, so he has no idea,” Eric noted, pointing at a carefree boy watching television with his friend. “It’s about time they start coming after each other.”

Heidi took a closer look at the screen displaying Sixth’s activities. His friend, a boy in an orange parka, catches his sleeve on fire from a nearby candle. Sixth panics as the boy rushes to the sink and sprays his sleeve with the detachable faucet head.

“Trying to kill that guy again?” Heidi asked.

“It’s just so weird how he keeps having near death experiences, yet he won’t die. Shame he’s not part of the game,” Eric explains, looking very amused as the boy slips on the puddle of water on the tile floor.

“Why didn’t you make him part of the game, then?”

“And have thirteen players? It just doesn’t feel right. Twelve works fine.”

“That’s fair,” Heidi nods. “By the way, do you have any favorite players so far?”

Eric hums thoughtfully, leaning back in his chair while he taps his finger on his lips.

“The Ninth, obviously. She’s smart, funny, and beautiful to top it off.”

“Oh darling, you are such a sweetheart!” Heidi beamed, giving Eric a peck on the cheek as she places her hands on his shoulder. “But flattery aside, who do you think will win?”

“I can’t tell you that, my love. You might try and ruin their chances as a plot twist, and you know I love a good plot twist.”

“But darling, I’m only trying to make things more interesting. Didn’t you like the hidden explosives I set up at the high school?”

“You make a good point, my dear. I did enjoy watching First turn on his friends to save Second.”

“So you admit your favorite is First?” Heidi questioned.

“Looks like you caught me,” Eric admits, turning to the screen that displays Tweek glaring at Wendy. “I can’t help but be fond of him. That guy would do anything for his love. Reminds me of you, my dear.”

Heidi backed away from Eric and held her hands behind her back.

“Naturally,” she agrees, her eyes narrowing.

Though all of their screens show the same content since they’re speaking to each other, Heidi’s eyes fall on Craig’s. She observes his troubled gaze towards Tweek as he tries to convince him that everything will be okay.

_Just how long can he put up with First’s behavior, I wonder?_

* * *

**10/13/2018 01:08 AM [Main Street, Outside]**

Living with someone you love means that you’ll see them every day. Living with someone you _really_ love means that you don’t mind seeing them every day, every minute, and maybe even every second. The couple wasn’t crazy enough about each other to want to spend every second of their lives together, but the situation has Tweek’s eyes on Craig pretty often.

To be fair, he just wants Craig to be safe, which Craig understands. After all, his dumb ass just had to stick around and have a useless chat with Heidi in the hallway, which resulted in him getting captured. If it wasn’t for Tweek, he would most likely be dead by now.

Still, being away from Tweek for a little while was both relieving and nerve-wracking at the same time. He loves Tweek, and he loves that they live together, but as an introvert, he does like having alone time every now and then. While Tweek was respectful of that back then because he was the same way, the game has him breathing down Craig’s back to make sure no one even looks in his direction.

Craig stared at the entries in his diary. Because his Observation Diary only lists what he can see around him, he doesn’t know what Tweek and Wendy are up to at the moment. He knows the both of them can fend for themselves, yet he still wishes he knew if things were going well on their end. Judging by the unaltered state of the entries, Craig could push those worries back and focus on acting like bait as planned.

 **01:11 AM [Main Street, Outside]  
** A woman chloroforms me and throws me into a car.

 **01:40 AM [Abandoned Circuit City, 1st Floor]  
** I wake up in front of Professor Chaos. He learns my identity as the Second.

 **01:47 AM [Abandoned Circuit City, 1st Floor]  
** Wendy’s team is blocking off the escape routes. Tweek fights off the minions to save me.

 **01:52 AM [Abandoned Circuit City, 1st Floor]  
** Professor Chaos is arrested and Wendy takes his diary away.

_Doesn’t look too bad. Only a few more minutes._

The minion following him was absolutely terrible at disguising her stalking. It was clear to Craig that the woman was trying to get a better look at his diary just from how close she had gotten to him in a matter of seconds. To play it off, she began walking slowly once she pulled out her phone, which Craig assumed was her texting someone to come get him. Craig continued to walk forward, making sure to keep his ears open for any change in the future.

A car pulled up across the street minutes later. He tried to stay calm when the woman started running behind him and holding a wet cloth to his face.

_Stop the game for Tweek. This is for Tweek!_

His phone stayed silent up until the point where he fell unconscious, causing him to lose the ability to hear his surroundings. Just as predicted, the woman looked around, called over her partner, then dragged Craig into the car.

* * *

**10/13/2018 01:11 AM [East Shi Tpa Town, Outside]**

**Wendy** : Tucker has been captured. They’re heading for Circuit City, so come to the station immediately.  
**Tweek** : Got it!

Tweek stares at the entries on his phone, mortified over Craig’s treatment. He isn’t tortured, but he’s thrown around and tied up like a prisoner. He knew this would happen from looking at the diary earlier, but actually being aware that it’s going to happen in a matter of minutes has Tweek rethinking the whole plan.

_Fourth’s team leaves the station at 1:40? What the hell are they doing, taking so long like that?! I might as well save him myself, and take down the Sixth!_

He knows Wendy will find out if he ruins the plan by running off on his own, but he couldn’t stand by and let his imagination run wild. He tucked his phone safely into his jeans pocket and ran to the Circuit City as fast as he could.

It took him minutes before he remembered that he didn’t know where this hideout was actually located. Nothing was coming up on his GPS, so he was left to fend for himself. Asking people where to find an abandoned building would make him appear suspicious, and there was the possibility of accidentally asking a minion, who could capture him and render him useless for saving Craig. Returning to Wendy didn’t seem plausible either, especially since he was doing what she had told him _not_ to do.

Then the static sound emits from his phone. He wonders if it has to do with Wendy changing her plans now that he had run off on his own, but after reading the change, that wasn’t the case.

 **01:40 AM [Abandoned Circuit City, 1st Floor]  
** Twelfth has come to defeat the Sixth. Craig is caught up in the fight. I have to save him before he gets hurt!

Tweek spins around, hoping to run into Twelfth. For a moment, things are quiet, but then a flash of red appears before him. A man in a full maroon bodysuit jumps out of an alleyway, his soles sliding on the pavement. On his chest is a a logo with a yellow uppercase L that’s connected to the second line of an E, both of which are in front of a black diamond shape. He wears a black mask that covers his mouth and nose, leaving his eyes visible, though Tweek didn’t recognize him. The entire outfit screamed “wannabe superhero”, which left Tweek speechless. That, and the fact that the man had fallen over as soon as he made his entrance.

“Hhhhhello, citizen! My name... is Lord E!” the man says as he tries to stand and dust off his clothes. “Would you mind... would… would you help a superhero find an evil man’s... lay--lay-yer?”

_Is this guy drunk?!_

“Who’s lair?” Tweek asked, pretending to seem interested.

“Professer Chaos, of course!” Lord E. pulls out a steel flask that was strapped to the side of his belt and takes a sip. “I hear it’s in an aban...abandoned building-- _hic!_ \--somewhere. A Cir-kit City. Do you… Do you know of it?”

“No,” Tweek answered.

Lord E. walked up to Tweek and put a hand on his shoulder, sending an uncomfortable shiver down his spine. This man was _way_ too close for comfort, and his alcohol breath wasn’t making the situation better.

“I’m gonna tell you… a liiiiittle secret… my friend,” he slurred, hiccuping at the end of his sentence.

Tweek was almost blown away by this man’s stupidity when he held his phone in front of his face. There was no doubt that this man was a user, as his diary entries proved this.

 **01:18 AM [East Shi Tpa Town, Outside]  
** a minon of chaos i s across the strete! i will fololw him so that hhe can lead me to chos!!! !

 _It’s 1:17 right now,_ Tweek notes. _Also, how is this guy functioning right now?_

“I have an... _awesome_ superpower… I can see when someone is… up to noooo good before they do it! Amazing, huh? I’m… I’m a great hero!”

“Wow, that is amazing!” Tweek lied. “You’re such a cool hero!”

“Aww, I love-- _hic!_ \--the praise, kid. Now step aside. I hafta be… sneaky now… Sneaky...”

_Jesus fucking Christ._

Surprisingly, Lord E. didn’t stumble once he started running, nor did he make much noise when climbing onto the rooftop of a building. Tweek decided to continue walking, making sure he’s out of sight of the poorly disguised minion. He doubts that they’ve noticed him, but he makes sure to keep his diary out of sight for the time being.

* * *

**10/13/2018 01:38 AM [Abandoned Circuit City, Outside]**

Circuit City had a wide parking lot filled with minions, making it difficult for anyone to hide from their sight. From behind a nearby building, Tweek watched as many of Chaos’s minions patrolled the area. How could he sneak in without being caught? What if Chaos already knows he’s here, and he’s just waiting for Tweek to come out of hiding in order to ambush him?

Tweek took a deep breath.

_There has to be a way to get inside. Craig needs me! I can’t be wasting time like this!_

He took a rock and threw it as high and as far as he could towards the corner of the parking lot. It landed on the far right corner, leading all of the minions to check the source of the noise when it hit the asphalt. Luckily, none of the minions had the idea of searching for where the rock was thrown from, allowing Tweek to sneak towards the back door.

Unfortunately, there were minions guarding the back door as well. Two minions with flashlights illuminated a specific part of the area, one direction for each of them. Tweek timed the flashlight coverage at three second waves, moving to another spot after each wave. Using the same trick again, he threw another rock, which landed to the right of the farthest minion. Both of them investigated, but as soon as Tweek leaped out of hiding, his footsteps caught the attention of one of the minions.

Now spotted, Tweek had no choice but to fight. Before the minion could shout out, Tweek punched him straight in the nose, causing him to stumble and fall, hitting his head on the concrete. Managing to knock the minion unconscious, Tweek moved on to keep the other quiet.

“INTRU--!” the other yelled, but she couldn’t finish her announcement. Knowing that he had little time from that outburst, Tweek swiftly grabbed the fallen minion’s flashlight and shined it directly at the eyes of the other, which led to the woman putting her arms up to block the light. Her upper stomach now vulnerable, Tweek delivered a blow to it, ceasing her breathing momentarily as she doubled over in pain.

_I’m sorry, but I have to save Craig!_

Tweek hurried into the building as the other minions ran over from the front to investigate the noise. Upon entering, he could see Craig on his knees with his hands bound. He’s surrounded by minions, two of which are holding him down as Professor Chaos stands before him. His face is bruised and bleeding, two things that Tweek could not forgive.

“Welcome, user!” Chaos greeted. “Before you save this one, would you mind telling me your number?”

“You hurt Craig! YOU’LL PAY FOR THIS!” Tweek screamed, running towards Chaos.

“Restrain him!” Chaos ordered, sending several minions charging towards Tweek.

Craig tried to stand, only to have his face pushed down onto the tile floor by the minions. While he would prefer being the one to be captured as compared to Tweek, it wasn’t fun enduring the beatings he received for stepping out of line, nor was he happy with being rendered helpless as Tweek fought several men bigger than him on his own. He prayed Wendy would arrive soon, or at least find an opportunity to strike back.

Then all he could see was red. The knife he had given Tweek was gripped tightly in his hand as the blond slashed the chest of the closest minion, drawing a stream of blood in the air. Bodies dropped like flies as arteries were struck, staining the floor in a pool of crimson.

“Don’t you dare…”

_**SLASH!** _

“...lay a hand…”

_**SLASH!** _

“... **ON MY CRAIG!!!** ”

Chaos stepped back, ordering more and more minions to go after Tweek.

“Don’t let this one go,” he instructed the ones holding down Craig. “We can’t kill them yet. Not until _he_ arrives.”

Craig was overwhelmed with different emotions upon watching the scene. Helplessness for just watching from the sidelines. Impatience for Wendy’s absence. Hope for Tweek to win.

But most of all, he felt fear. He feared for Tweek’s safety, but the murderous aura emanating from Tweek had him frozen in place. He had lost the strength to break away from the minions. He could only watch as his love slaughtered men and women left and right. He knew Tweek was capable of protecting himself, but never did he think he would see a scene like this.

_He’s doing this for me. He’s trying to save me. They’re probably not even dead._

The next body to fall landed much too close to Craig, and from the empty look in the woman’s eyes, there was no way that she was still alive.

_When did Tweek become so unfazed by killing?_

At this point, Tweek didn't care that Craig was watching. Craig's safety was his number one priority, and he didn't mind getting blood on his hands just to make sure his love was alive and well. They hurt his Craig, and he had no intention of holding back. He just hoped Craig would still love him after this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To those who want to continue reading after this chapter, I thank you for your support! It gets gruesome, which I stated in the archive warnings. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, nevertheless! Tell me what you thought in the comments, if you'd like! Critiques are welcome!
> 
> Side note: If the characters seem a little OOC to you, there's a reason for that. You'll see in the upcoming chapters.


	5. Unknown User

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Angsty

******12/01/2017 01:18 AM [Stotch Residence, Basement]**

“You know why we’re here, don’t you? Do you have any idea what time it is?!” Steven shouted.

He stood at the top of the stairs, staring down at his good-for-nothing son. Why the boy refuses to be obedient is beyond him. He feeds him and puts a roof over his head, and all he wants is a son who respects him, yet nothing gets through to him.

“Yes, Dad…” a pale-faced Butters mumbled with a nod, keeping his eyes on the floor to avoid contact with his red-faced father’s.

At the bottom of the steps, Butters’ ankle was chained to the wall to prevent his escape. As much as he regrets breaking his curfew, he regrets not keeping a blanket in the basement more. That, or being caught without a thicker jacket. The freezing air slipped under the sleeves of his thin sweater, causing just about every tiny hair on his body to stand straight.

“You never learn, do you? You just love making me angry, don’t you?”

“I-I’m sorry, Dad, but the other guys wanted to--”

“Why can’t you make friends that can behave, then?” Steven interrupted, scowling at the thought of Butters hanging around delinquents. “If you break your curfew again, I’ll **_forbid_ ** you from seeing them! Do I make myself clear?!”

Sinking into his shoulders, Butters nods.

“Yes, Dad,” he answers as he continues to avoid eye contact.

There’s a long silence between them as Steven sighs heavily, pressing his hand to his forehead. He mumbles something that Butters doesn’t understand past “what am I doing wrong?”, then shakes his head.

“You’re grounded for three months. You’ll spend the night in the basement as extra punishment.”

“Yes, Dad…”

Steven slams the door, and though he knows he won’t be hurt, Butters still flinches from the sound. He slides his back down the wall as he sinks to the floor. The cold, hard floor is in no way comfortable, but it beats standing. He pokes at the all too familiar chain, feeling the rusted metal under his fingertips. He never learns, does he?

“So cruel,” Butters whispers, fearing that he may be heard. “I didn’t mean to be bad. I just wanted to hang out with my friends.”

His eyes lower has he repeats the last word in his mind. “Friends”. The people that he wants to be like. The people who he has admired throughout his entire childhood and would love if they liked him back. It’s hard to be seen as a close friend, or even a member of a group, when those people have formed groups of their own way before they meet you.

These friends of his don’t understand what it’s like living in this household. He admires their strength to stand up to their parents and get away with just about anything, but none of that would work on his parents.

* * *

**11/30/2017 04:12 PM [South Park High School, Courtyard]**

“Grounded?” Stan asks, raising an eyebrow. “Your parents are _still_ doing that?”

For as long as the gang knew Butters, they could never seem to grasp the concept of having parents as strict as his.

“Sucks to be you, dude,” Kyle shrugs, turning away. “Come on, guys. We can find someone else to help us.”

Butters endured his friends’ attitudes with a smile as he scratched the back of his head.

“Maybe another time, fellas! Preferably before 11 PM, because that’s my curfew.”

“Uh, I guess. Whatever,” Kyle replied indifferently.

He and Stan walked away, leaving Butters to sigh and watch them go. He never knew why they were always getting into trouble, but whenever he was allowed to tag along, it was always fun. Well, most of the time, but he liked adventures.

“The grounding excuse again?” Butters overheard Kyle say to Stan. “Can’t he learn to sneak out?”

“Imagine being _that_ scared of your parents,” said Stan.

In a moment of desperation, Butters pushes back his initial fears of grounding. If he helps them, they’ll like him more, right? That’s how it works, right?

“Uh, wait!” Butters called out after them. “I’ll be there! I can sneak out!”

He knew damn well he could not do that without getting caught.

“Alright, cool! See you later then!” Stan replied, waving at him.

This was a mistake. He never learns, but he can’t let his friends down. Someday, they’ll like him enough to understand him.

* * *

**12/01/2017 01:20 AM [Stotch Residence, Basement]**

Butters pulled his knees to his chest and buried his head as tears rolled down his cheeks.

“I just want to be liked… Why does nobody like me…?”

 

* * *

**08/27/2015 04:31 PM [South Park High School, Courtyard]**

If senior boys with superiority complexes had a favorite hobby, it would be tormenting freshman. Weak, lonely, and nerdy freshman. Butters wasn’t exactly a lonely person, but when it comes to having friends to defend you from bullies, he might as well be a loner.

There were many targets for seniors available, especially with the recent influx of students for the new school year, but Butters was the number one target at the moment. On this day, hours before, a secret that he told his friends had slipped out in the middle of a conversation. Others heard of this secret, and it quickly spread throughout the school.

The secret that Butters Stotch was gay, and he already had a crush on someone in the school.

Ironically, no one touched Craig and Tweek. They were the idols of the town that represented true love, and anyone who expressed any sort of opposition towards them was never heard from again. Unfortunately, the same couldn’t be said about anyone else who identified as homosexual, so they were all left to fend for themselves.

Hypocritical? Definitely.

Unusual? Not in South Park.

That’s why Butters had his arms held in front of his face as four large senior boys took turns punching him, kicking him, shoving him around, and throwing his own notebooks at him. Many of his old elementary and middle school classmates passed by and debated on whether to come to his rescue, but none of them wanted to get hurt in the process.

Even his “friends” saw the abuse, but pre-puberty adolescents knew better than to fight people much bigger and stronger than them for someone you didn’t consider a ride-or-die. Butters can see them glancing at him from afar, whispering about what they should do. He could faintly hear, “should we get the principal?” and “what if they find out we tattled?”

“No one’s going to help the poor queer. How sad,” one bully taunted, punching Butters in the stomach before pushing him to the next guy.

“I’d feel bad if I didn’t find this fun!” the next guy said, pushing Butters onto the grass.

Exhausted, Butters’ heavy eyelids shut closed as he endured the boys’ attacks. The laughing and the voices faded out. Seconds later, he passed out, so he couldn’t hear the distressed cries of his bullies and the fight going on around him.

 

* * *

**12/01/2017 01:24 AM [Stotch Residence, Basement]**

Butters ran his fingers over the scar on his left eye, an accident caused by the carelessness of his “friends”. Everyone was quick to dismiss his pain for their own selfishness, leaving him blind in one eye.

_“You’re not cool enough to play with us.”_

_“He’s just one of those people who you can never remember if he was there or not.”_

_“You’re just too lame.”_

The silence in the dark room was unbearable. Silence meant that there was nothing to drown out the voices echoing in Butters’ head, preventing him from falling asleep. They were cruel and unforgiving. They reminded him of all the things he hated about himself.

_You’re a loser._

_You’re nothing._

_Nobody likes you._

_You don’t matter to anybody._

_Nobody needs you._

**_That’s why nobody will care if you’re gone._ **

“It doesn’t matter anymore. None of this matters anymore. **Nobody matters anymore.** ”

_All hope is gone. There’s no point in wishing for things to get better anymore._

Butters raised his head and stared straight into the darkness. The only source of light came from a small window nearby, though not much light poured through.

“Leopold Stotch is pitiful. That’s why Professor Chaos will take care of things for him.”

Chaos grinned widely, continuing to stare at nothing. All traces of the innocent Butters had disappeared, leaving behind a cold, ruthless man with a thirst for destruction and chaos.

_Nobody will step all over me now._

_Nobody will hurt me now._

_Nobody will be safe from chaos._

Suddenly, he hears the window being opened. Something shiny is thrown in his direction, but the only thing he can see from where he was sitting is a long, purple cloth that disappeared in a flash. When the metal object hits the ground by his feet, Chaos grabs it and quickly recognizes it to be a key.

Though suspicious at first, Chaos holds the key right in front of the keyhole to the shackle around his ankle. With a push, turn, and a click, the shackle fell to the floor.

“You don’t know what you’ve gotten yourself into, stranger, but thank you anyway.”

* * *

**10/13/2018 01:30 AM [Abandoned Circuit City, 1st Floor]**

“Wake up, user. Someone is changing the future,” Chaos ordered, kicking Craig on the shoulder.

If it wasn’t for the flap of his chullo blocking the way, the tile floor would be chilling Craig’s face right now. His sharp inhale just earned him a puff of dust up his nose, which he snorted out as he blinked into consciousness.

He assumed Chaos was the one who kicked him awake, but from the direction he was facing, Craig couldn’t see him. He could feel rope binding his wrists and ankles, so running away was definitely out of the question. If he was being completely honest, he is scared by the situation he’s in, especially now that Chaos had stated that the future was being changed.

“What number are you?” Chaos questioned.

“Second.”

“Ahh. Craig Tucker is the second, then.”

“That’s not my name,” Craig replied flatly, his need to reply to everything with sarcasm coming to light.

“Shut up,” said Chaos, kicking Craig from behind hard enough for him to roll onto his face. “I know everyone in this town. Don’t think you can get away with trying to trick me.”

Craig knew being sarcastic would get him nowhere, but at this point, it became a defense mechanism to keep him from showing his true feelings. He rolled to his side so that he could face Chaos, or rather, his feet.

Looking up, he studied Chaos’s face. He appeared just as he did in Wendy’s picture of him; same features, same outfit, same mask that covered one of his eyes. He really did look very similar to Butters, though the thought of Butters kicking him around wasn’t something that ever crossed Craig’s mind. This guy gave off an aura of someone who found joy in the pain of others, something that the naive and innocent Butters was the complete opposite of.

Resemblance aside, Chaos wasn’t an opponent to be taken lightly. Craig had faith in Wendy and her team, as she was the only person in that pathetic excuse of a police force to try and apprehend Chaos. He doesn’t doubt that it was her idea to come after Heidi that day as well. He can’t remember what time Wendy was supposed to show up, and the change in the future had him questioning if her arrival was going to be delayed. Chaos was a user after all. There’s no way he couldn’t see her coming.

“You’ve got people coming to save you, I see,” Chaos noted, scrolling through his tablet. “Officer Testaburger’s team and… a blond boy? Is he a user too?”

“Fuck, dude. I hit my nose. You could’ve broken it.”

“Are you some kind of masochist? Are you just provoking me so that I would hit you?”

“...no,” Craig huffed. Tweek would be angry with him if he found out that he was hurt due to his sarcastic nature, so he decided to stop messing around. That didn’t mean that he would give up all of their secrets, though.

“So if you’re Second, then your death was supposed to be at the hands of Third many days ago.”

Craig remembered hearing the god say the same thing the day they all stood at the Cathedral. Sixth, Chaos, was one of the many silhouettes standing before him. They’re all probably thinking about his connection to Third’s defeat.

“If First was the one who defeated them, and you two are allies, then First must be the one coming for you right now.”

Chaos took a step closer to Craig.

“It’s the blond one, isn’t it? Your little boyfriend, Tweek Tweak?”

Staying silent would only confirm this, but lying would also do the same. There was no way Craig could avoid giving away Tweek’s identity, but it’s not like Tweek and Heidi already did so in front of the whole school and the police force the other day.

“I’ll take your silence as confirmation. As I said, it’s not like you can lie to me.”

Chaos stepped back and scrolled through his diary again. He closed his eyes and sighed upon reading multiple entries of Tweek attacking his minions.

“Regardless, it looks like this guy is going to cause a lot of trouble for me. I’d restrain him now, but he might escape. I need as little changes to the future as possible for my plan to work.”

Craig debated on asking for Chaos to elaborate on his plan, but another question was weighing on his mind ever since he found out that Chaos was a user. Bringing his knees close to his chest and using his elbow to prop him up, Craig relied on core strength to sit upright. Now on his knees, he meets Chaos’s eye.

“So…” Craig started with a casual conversational tone. “Why do you wanna be God?”

“World domination,” Chaos responded instantly, his eyes still on his diary.

“Wow,” Craig responded, deadpan. “What a plot twist.”

Chaos punched Craig in the face until he was knocked back onto the floor. Craig curses at himself internally for not being able to control his sarcasm when he needs to.

“You have to be some kind of dumbass to think that I would just say something so typical. Obviously, I have my reasons that I don’t plan on sharing with the likes of you.”

Craig tastes the metallic blood from his busted lip. He’s glad none of his teeth were knocked out, and he hopes Tweek’s diary doesn’t tell him the real cause of his injuries.

“Same question for you, Second. Why do you plan to become God?”

_This fucking question again._

Silently, Craig lied on the floor and stared ahead, his eyes squinting. Leave it to a villain to ask unnecessary and all too personal questions.

“Oh, how insensitive of me!” Chaos laughed, not feeling even an ounce of pity. “If your love is playing too, then you’ll have to face him in the end!”

“As if I didn’t hear that enough already,” Craig spat, only fueling Chaos’s torments with his anger.

“So what’s the plan? Double suicide? Let _him_ win? Or are you secretly selfish enough to kill him and take the throne for yourself?”

A death glare from a man with limited mobility, in most cases, is ineffective. That didn’t stop Craig from showing his hostility through his eyes.

“So what kind of diary do you have?” Chaos wondered, unfazed by Craig’s glare.

“Like I’d tell you.”

“Ah, that’s fair.”

As he types away on the tablet, two minions appear by Chaos’s side.

“Hold him down and take his phone.”

The minions pin Craig down, shoving his face onto the floor. One pats down his lower body, feeling for his phone as Craig struggles under their grip.

“Hey, get off of me! Get your hands off of me!”

Craig thrashes around, trying to kick them away with limited movement. He can feel their hands reaching into his front pocket and fishing out his phone. With one minion continuing to hold him down, the other handed the phone over to Chaos.

“Thank you,” said Chaos.

He began scrolling through past entries. He was particularly interested in the school bombing incident.

“You ran into Ninth, did you? What can you tell me about them?”

“She’s some kind of god. She would kill you in a second.”

“I can tell just by reading the entries. She’ll prove to be a challenge, but I’m not worried.”

* * *

**10/13/2018 01:38 AM [Park County Police Department, 2nd Floor]**

It took every ounce of Wendy’s willpower to keep herself from losing her composure. Craig was captured, Tweek had disobeyed her orders, and Yates’s old team was still refusing to cooperate with her. How anything managed to get done in this department was beyond her.

“Come on, Testaburger,” Yates’s second in command laughed, rolling his eyes. “You want us to believe that you’ve tracked Chaos when none of our other officers were able to do so for the past couple of weeks?”

_Stay calm. Do not yell._

“None of them were even trying,” Wendy pointed out, doing her best to control her breathing. “Chaos’s minions were literally wandering around in the open.”

The officer snorted, and Wendy straightened her fingers to prevent balling her hands into fists.

 _Do_ **_not_ ** _let them get to you._

“Say you _did_ find Chaos’s headquarters.”

“I did--” Wendy interrupted.

“You want us to just walk in there and arrest them? They’re a dangerous group. We need to plan this out a little more, don’t you think?”

“I’ve already planned this out. We just need more units with us to--”

“ _I_ need some time to plan this out. My guys won’t listen to you. Not after you let that terrorist get away.”

Saying “she disappeared” wouldn’t convince them, especially when only her team was the only part of the force to witness it. There was no way to get these guys to help her, so once again, it was up to Wendy’s team to give a damn about this town.

“ _Fine_ ,” she answered, holding her hands up in defeat. “I’ll just be on my way.”

As she neared the door, Red gave her an understanding look and pat on the back.

“There’s no use reasoning with them,” she said. “We’ll take care of this case. We’ll capture Chaos no matter what.”

Wendy paused for a moment, recalling Heidi’s supernatural abilities.

“Tell everyone to wear their body cams,” she instructed. “If something strange happens again, we’ll have proof of it.”

* * *

**10/13/2018 01:47 AM [Abandoned Circuit City, 1st Floor]**

Chaos types into his tablet once again, summoning several minions to his side. The two who pinned Craig down earlier pull him up to where he’s on his knees, keeping a tight grip on his shoulders.

A minion calls out “intruder” from outside the back door, only to be cut off by a flashlight to her eyes and a blow to the solar plexus. Chaos watches as the door bursts open and a disheveled blond rushes in, stopping once he sees his boyfriend restrained and surrounded. He loved seeing Tweek’s wide eyes and trembling lips when he saw the state his love was in. He greeted Tweek and asked for his number, only for Tweek to answer with screams of rage.

Chaos wasn’t afraid. A small blond boy versus his army of minions? Sure, he foresaw the defeat of many of his minions, but he still had intelligence and numbers on his side. His army was prepared for Testaburger’s team outside as well. All that was left was Mysterion’s arrival.

Why he was so insistent on Mysterion showing up was something he himself didn’t understand. No one is happy to see their plans foiled, but when Mysterion was the one doing so, Chaos couldn’t help but look forward to it. Someday, he’ll capture him and figure out his identity. That day was today.

But today, a blond boy with a combat knife was wreaking havoc in his headquarters. Uneasiness bubbled up inside him as Tweek came closer, droplets of blood dancing around his thin frame as they stained his clothes. The minion holding Craig’s phone was pushed down by Tweek’s foot to his chest, causing him to suffocate under the weight of Tweek’s body standing on his chest. The second minion was stopped by a knife entering and being pulled out of his stomach, causing him to bleed out.

“What are you doing?!” Chaos shouted at his minions, backing away. “Where are your weapons?! Restrain him, NOW!!!”

Tweek lunged for Chaos, his blood-stained knife ready for its next victim. All of the bodies on the floor made Chaos’s escape difficult. If it wasn’t for the red-haired minion shielding him with their body, he would have surely died.

When his protector’s body hit the ground, Chaos ran to the other end of the building, calling for more backup. Tweek took this chance to hurry over to Craig and cut off the ropes restraining him.

“Don’t worry, Craig!” Tweek assured, pulling Craig to his feet. “I’ll get you out of here!”

But Craig’s legs were frozen. There were no shadows holding him down this time. It was his own body betraying him, forcing him to stand in place and face the person his boyfriend has become.

“Tweek…?” he whispered.

“I wish you didn’t have to see this either, but we really have to go, Craig!” Tweek insisted, tugging on his hand.

Every exit was blocked off. It didn’t take long for them to be surrounded again, and the minions grabbing the two from behind prevented them from fighting back. As they were pushed to the ground with their hands pressed against their backs, they were met with a smug-faced Chaos, who held Craig’s phone in his hand.

“You can’t just kill my right hand man like that,” he said, throwing Craig’s phone at Tweek’s face. “I’d kill you as revenge, but I can’t do that just yet. There’s a certain someone that I’m looking for that will come as long as I have you two here.”

Chaos grins at the entry in his diary, much to the boys’ confusion.

“The future hasn’t changed much,” he says to himself. “He’s just a little early.”

“What the hell are you going on about?” Tweek questions.

Turning his tablet around to show them, Chaos holds his diary before the two.

 **01:50 AM [Abandoned Circuit City, Outside]  
** [Minion #132] Mysterion is spotted on the roof of the headquarters.

“I am the Sixth, and this is my Minion Diary. It used to contain everything my minions saw or what acts of chaos they have committed, but with the power of foresight, I can see everything they see for the next ninety days! With all of these witnesses, there’s nothing that leaves my sight.”

He walks to the entrance to greet his guest of honor as the minions continue to hold the boys down.

“Now, dear Mysterion,” he calls out, holding an arm out while the other holds his tablet. “Just try and save these two!”

A familiar dark figure leaps from the roof and stands before Chaos. A purple bodysuit that clung tightly to his body. A purple cape that fluttered in the wind. A green question mark attached to the top of his hood for the mysterious vigilante charm. And finally, a black mask that hid their features from anyone who wanted to know their identity.

“Stand your ground, minions,” Chaos ordered with the wave of his hand.

He walks up to Mysterion. Again, he feels the excitement of being in the presence of his beloved nemesis. He believes it to be because he was saved by Mysterion that one fateful day, though Mysterion knew nothing of Chaos’s existence at the time, but there was something missing. Something Chaos could answer by uncovering Mysterion’s identity.

“Hello, Mysterion. What brings you here today?”

“You know why I’m here,” Mysterion answered in his signature gruff tone. “You said so yourself. I’m taking those two away from you.”

He looks to Craig and Tweek, who both look at him questioningly. They don’t know of his identity, nor did they think he would be the one to save them.

“I’ll give them to you for a trade,” Chaos offered. “Give me your diary, and I’ll give you my hostages.”

“The diary game, huh?” Mysterion wonders aloud, pulling out his phone. “I’ve heard of that. Might need a different bargaining chip, though, because I don’t have a diary.”

He shows off his apps, the diary being nowhere to be found. Chaos frowns, though he isn’t as bothered by it as he thought he would be.

_He’s not Twelfth, then. That’s unfortunate._

“Here’s a bargaining chip for you. Show me who you really are, and I’ll let those two go!” he claimed, pointing at the boys.

Mysterion glanced back at Craig and Tweek, then at Chaos, then back at the boys.

“Had to be those two,” he mumbled with a grin. Chaos noted this comment, yet he stayed quiet with hopes that Mysterion will take his offer.

“Looks like you two might see something interesting,” Mysterion says to the boys, gripping at the outside of his hood.

_Yes, finally! Mysterion’s true identity!_

“Not sho fast... villains!” a voice called out from afar.

“You’ve got to be kidding me...” Chaos groaned as he stepped past Mysterion to look for the source of the voice. He then turned angrily to his minions. “Why were none of you keeping watch for intruders?!”

A figure dressed in maroon jumps down from roof, stumbles, then falls onto the floor. As if it never happened, he quickly gets back up and dusts himself off. He then enters a ridiculous pose of holding a fist above his head while his other hand was on his hip, puffing out his chest, and standing with one leg bent forward.

“I’m… I am the _only_ vigilante this… — _hic_ —town needs,” he announces. “I am Lord E! Now... let those two go, diary users!”

“I’m not a user, but whatever,” Mysterion shrugs.

Tweek rolls his eyes at the sight of the wannabe superhero that asked him for directions earlier, though he wonders what he will think when he sees that he had been captured by Chaos’s minions. Does he know that he is a user, or will he think he’s a citizen in danger? Whatever gets him and Craig to safety, he doesn’t care at this point.

“Literally, what the fuck is going on?” says Craig.

“That’s the Twelfth,” Tweek mutters. Craig shoots him a look of disbelief, but Tweek returns it with one of annoyance.

“Diary users?” Chaos repeats. “Ah, so you must be the Twelfth. Minions, get him, but don’t let the others escape.”

He grabs onto Mysterion’s arm as the minions not holding down Craig and Tweek chase down the stumbling Lord E.

“In the meantime, Mysterion, you were going to show me your identity.”

Mysterion lunges toward Chaos, causing him to step back and release him in surprise. Mysterion then leaps backwards, spins on his toes to face the boys, then hurls black pepper from his pocket at the eyes of the minions restraining them.

Craig shakes off his blinded and screaming assailant and thrusts his palm to their face so that their head would collide with the floor. He retrieves his fallen phone as Tweek follows suit with the same method, though because the force in his push was enhanced by his initial rage, he knocked the minion unconscious upon landing.

Chaos watches scornfully as his plan falls to pieces. He was losing minions rapidly, and his remaining forces were tasked with blocking all entrances. Police sirens were heard nearby, so they’ll be held up there.

“Incompetent minions!” he shouted, balling his fists. “I said _don’t_ let them escape! Why are you all so useless?!”

_No more games. It’ll be over for me soon. I’m running out of options!_

Craig, Tweek, and Mysterion fought their way past the minions to meet up with Wendy, who headed for the wall of minions blocking the main entrance. Lord E., believing Mysterion was an enemy, fought to get him away from Craig and Tweek, slowing down their escape.

“We’re just normal citizens, Lord E.,” Tweek tried to calmly reason as Lord E. swung an empty bottle of wine at Mysterion. “Please, we’re trying to escape!”

“Don’t worry, citizens! I’ll — _hic_ —save you from this diary user! They’re... dangerous!”

The minions stood their ground and watched in confusion as Mysterion and Lord E. fought each other instead of them.

“For the last time, I’m not a user!” Mysterion shouted, losing his patience. He didn’t want to kill him because he wasn’t sure if Lord E. had done anything wrong, but reasoning with this drunkard was proving to be useless.

On the outside, Wendy and her team had their guns pointed at the minions. Their side is short on numbers as compared to the minions, but they stood firm.

“This is an order. Step aside, or you’ll all be under arrest!”

Like Mysterion, Wendy isn’t one for needless killing, which proved to be an issue when the minions stood their ground. She wonders what kind of leader Chaos is to make them fiercely loyal to him, or rather, how much they are being paid. She calls Craig, hoping that he’ll pick up and inform her on what’s happening on the other side.

“We can hear you from inside,” Craig answers. “Mysterion is trying to escape with us, but some dumbass vigilante called Lord E. is causing trouble. Chaos is hiding in the corner surrounded by more minions.”

“Yes, I know about Twelfth being there,” Wendy notes, sighing. “You’ll have to shake him off somehow. The guy gets drunk so often that he managed to teach himself how to function somewhat normally, but it’s still difficult to reason with him.”

“I’ve had enough of this,” Wendy heard Tweek say.

Tweek rushes toward Lord E. He’s aware of Tweek’s presence, so he swings at Tweek, but he misses. Tweek pins him down while he searches for his phone. He slides it out of a case clipped to his belt and throws it towards Mysterion.

“Hurry and break it. He’ll be restrained when you do.”

Though he knew of the existence of the diary game, Mysterion wasn’t aware of many aspects of the game, so when he crushes the phone by stomping on it, he’s shocked to see Lord E.’s body begin to disappear. On the other hand, Craig knew this would happen, and he’s surprised that Tweek would suggest such a thing. It’s better than murder, but it’s still not fun to watch.

Tweek leaps off of the body, and while all the minions are distracted as they watch Lord E. start fading out of existence, Tweek fights their way through them. Wendy and her team assist him by pushing the minions aside, forcing them to break up the wall.

Craig and Mysterion snap out of their trance to help, and soon they’re all able to meet with the police. Wendy, Red, and Nicole rush past everyone and fight the minions surrounding Chaos. Soon, Wendy stood before Chaos as Red and Nichole had their guns pointed at the minions. Nearby, Tweek, Craig, and Mysterion had come to see the outcome of Chaos’s defeat as the rest of Wendy’s team held the other minions back.

The cornered Chaos looks at his diary with a sigh of defeat, though his face is as smug as ever.

“Hand it over, Chaos,” Wendy orders, pointing her gun at him.

“In a single night, all of my plans have been foiled by a couple of users,” he says to himself, shaking his head with a chuckle. “But my diary doesn’t say that I’ll be arrested.”

“What?” Wendy questions, but she quickly realizes what he means.

Chaos removed his helmet and tossed it onto the ground. He did the same with his mask, revealing his scarred eye.

“Butters?” Mysterion says in his normal voice softly, eyes widening at the reveal.

“I can’t even be a supervillain. I can’t do anything right. Why do I even try?”

He slams the side of his fist onto the face of his tablet, the steel plates on the wrists of his gloves cracking the screen. In that moment, he faded in and out, just like Lord E. did only moments before.

“Butters, is that you?!” Mysterion called out, walking around Wendy for a closer look.

Chaos froze.

_Wait..._

“Butters, what happened?” Mysterion asked frantically, grabbing onto Chaos’s face. “What made you turn into this?!”

Chaos could see dirty blond bangs peeking out from under Mysterion’s hood.

“That voice…” Chaos whispered.

He could see numerous freckles across his cheeks.

“I know that voice…”

He could see a chipped tooth on the upper right side of his mouth.

“Is this…”

He could see deep blue irises staring back at him.

“...Kenny?”

Then he couldn’t see anything else.

Kenny turned his palms upward to face him, then balled them into fists when he couldn’t feel Butters’s cheeks in his gloved hands anymore. He turned to pick up Butters’s fallen helmet, then let his tears fall and roll down his mask.

“I’m too late again, aren’t I…?”

Wendy walked in front of him and picked up the fallen tablet. Though the screen was cracked, it was still able to turn on. She pat Kenny on the shoulder with downcast eyes, then returned to her team.

“We have his disappearance recorded. Arrest the remaining minions and call a van to carry them back to the station.”

The women performed their duties as Craig and Tweek led Kenny outside.

“I couldn’t save him,” he choked through his tears.

Tweek rubbed his back, imitating the way Craig did when he was stressed out.

“It’s not your fault,” he assured, speaking softly. “None of us knew this would happen. Don’t beat yourself up over it.”

“But I was always with him! How could I not see that something was wrong? Something had to have happened to turn him into Chaos, but how does that explain Butters always behaving the same as always?”

“That’s because he had a multiple personality disorder,” said a familiar voice.

The three inhaled sharply as they looked to the sky and saw none other than Heidi Turner floating above them. Craig looked toward Wendy, who was busy interrogating a minion, so she couldn’t see what was going on. Tweek stood to alert her, but Kenny held him down.

“Explain,” he demanded.

“Explain multiple personality disorders? Leopold… sorry, you guys call him Butters. Butters Stotch and Professor Chaos share the same body, but not the same memories. That’s why Chaos felt no remorse kicking around Second here, and that’s why Chaos didn’t remember my performance at the high school when Butters was watching.”

She floated in front of Kenny, their faces only inches apart. Tweek held his knife in between them, causing her to back up only by a little bit.

“You’re wondering why Chaos was so obsessed with you, aren’t you?”

Kenny was silent, but he nodded slightly.

“He could sense the Kenny in Mysterion. And why would Chaos care about Kenny? Well…”

Her smile gave everything away. Kenny looked down at his reflection in Butters’s helmet, then gripped it tightly, paying no mind to the metal digging into his skin.

“Let’s keep the pain train going, shall we?”

“How could you find amusement in this?” Tweek growled, stepping to her closer with his knife.

“Calm down there, stabby. Wouldn’t want your boyfriend’s opinion of you to fall any lower, do you?”

Tweek spun to face Craig, his knife dropping to his feet. He knew Craig had been watching everything. He knew Craig would be shocked upon seeing such a violent side of him, yet he had managed to forget that Craig would still be thinking about it up until this point.

Craig, now reminded of the countless corpses caused by his boyfriend, purposefully avoided Tweek’s eye by keeping his gaze on the ground. Tweek even tricked Kenny into killing Lord E., even though it was a less gruesome death. What did this game do to his Tweek to turn him into such a ruthless killer?

Before Tweek could explain himself, Wendy rushed to the scene.

“Well, that was a fun show you guys put on!” Heidi giggled, waving at everyone. “I’ll see you all later. You too, Fourth! Bye-bye!”

“Why didn’t you guys tell me she was here?” Wendy questioned.

The couple looked to Kenny, who was still staring at Butters’s helmet. Taking the hint, Wendy dropped the subject. She faced Tweek, who shrunk at her folded arms and disappointed stare.

“Tweek Tweak. You ran off on your own, disobeyed my orders, and killed several people. Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t arrest you.”

Without Craig to turn to, Tweek closed his eyes and hung his head low in shame.

“I’m sorry,” he apologized. “I don’t have a good reason this time.”

“Self defense!” Craig blurted, stepping in front of Tweek. “My defense, too! Our lives were in danger, so wouldn’t this be considered a justifiable homicide defense?”

“All of those are easily arguable in court.”

Defeated, Craig held Tweek’s hand tightly. He looked down at Tweek’s worried eyes, though they had widened when he realized that Craig was trying to help him.

“But I don’t intend on arresting you,” Wendy explained, catching the boys off guard. “Do you know why?”

Not knowing how to answer, the boys looked at each other, then at Wendy, then stayed silent.

Wendy pulled out her phone, showing them the entries written in her diary.

“Because I created this plan with Tweak’s disobedience in mind. The plan was cruel to you two from the start, so how unfair would it be if I arrested Tweak for his justifiable actions?”

“You’re pretty shady, Testaburger,” Craig pointed out.

“I know, and I’m sorry. I’ll give you all a ride home, alright? Now let’s go.”

All three boys followed and sat in the back of Wendy’s police car. She left it unattended to speak with Red, leaving them in an uncomfortable silence.

Tweek nervously glanced at Craig, who was staring out the window with his arm propped on the windowsill. Craig had held his hand earlier, but would it be okay for him to do the same now? Was Craig still wary of him?

_He hates you._

A button nearly popped off of Tweek’s shirt from how hard he was gripping it.

_You’re just a murderer to him._

Kenny noticed Tweek’s behavior and pulled his hand off of his shirt to keep it from tearing.

_You disgust him._

“Tweek, hey, it’s okay!” Kenny said, grabbing the hand that was about to pull on his hair. “It’s over now! Everything’s fine! It’s not your fault!”

“I killed all those people…”

“Tweek, you were trying to protect me,” Craig reasoned, placing a hand on his cheek. “How could I be mad at you for that?”

“You’re disgusted by me! Don’t lie!” Tweek cried as he tried and failed to fight back tears. “I just wanted to save you… I’m sorry…”

Craig pulled Tweek’s face close to his.

“I’m not disgusted, sweetheart. I’m just a little shook up from seeing so many corpses, but I promise that I don’t think any less of you.”

Tweek took a deep breath and wrapped his arms around Craig’s waist, burying his face in his chest. He apologized repeatedly as Craig held him close and stroked his head, matching every “I’m sorry” with “it’s okay”.

Kenny watched the couple from his corner. Looking down at the helmet once again, he rubbed his thumb on the red jewel in the middle.

“That could be us, but your split decided to kill you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ohhhh boy this turned out a bit longer than I intended, but it's not too bad. I wish I had planned this chapter out more in detail earlier so I could have add more Butters/Kenny scenes in the earlier chapters, so that's why the relationship seemed a bit forced. Now you know that when I say your fave will die, they will die! You've been warned!
> 
> Next chapter, you'll learn what went down those seven years that Craig and Tweek were together. Heavy flashback chapter. As always, I hope you enjoyed!


	6. Nostalgic

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...I attempted smut. Emphasis on "attempted". You've been warned.

******10/15/2018 06:13 PM [Tucker Residence, Living Room]**

“House sitting?” Tweek asked.

He had received a call from his aunt, who had moved into his old house with her husband after his parents were arrested. Craig, who was sitting next to him on the couch, leaned close to the phone to listen in.

“Yes,” she confirmed. “Uncle Ben and I are going away for the week, and with all this crazy stuff that’s been happening in this town, we’re afraid of leaving the house alone. We’ll pay you, so can you watch the house for us?”

Things have been quiet ever since the Chaos incident ended, but he wasn’t going to mention that. Tweek liked visiting that house from time to time for the sake of nostalgia, so he was looking forward to spending the week there. Even after two years, they have yet to make any changes to his room, where he had left a few of his belongings behind on accident but never bothered to retrieve them.

“Yeah, I can do that. School is still out, so it won’t be a problem at all,” Tweek replied, smiling.

“Great! We left your room the way it is, so you can stay in there. Thank you so much for your help!”

After listening to some rules and requests, Tweek hung up the phone and headed upstairs to begin packing. Craig followed along, grabbing a backpack and sorting through his clothes.

“You’re coming too?” Tweek asked as Craig rolled up a shirt to fit inside his bag. “What about Stripe?”

“Tricia can watch him,” Craig answered, continuing to pack. He grabbed his favorite Red Racer shirt and slipped it into his bag without debate. “Besides, we have to stick together, remember?”

Every now and then, Tweek’s mind would flicker back to the Chaos incident. He doesn’t understand what took over him that day when he was fighting those minions. Maybe it was just adrenaline, though that wouldn’t explain why Tweek wasn’t fazed by the first time he had purposefully and single-handedly killed someone. It took a lot of convincing from Craig to accept that his actions were, for the most part, justifiable, and he promised Craig that he would hold back next time unless there were no other options.

Still, Tweek constantly worried about Heidi’s words.

_What if Craig really does think less of me now? What if he wants to break up? Will I end up living with my aunt, or will I end up in foster care? I’m seventeen, so what if I has to find an apartment and live on my own? What am I going to do?!_

“Tweek.”

“Mmmmghhh…”

Craig kneeled in front of him and held a hand in front of his face. When Tweek noticed it, he placed the hand on his shoulder. This has been happening for the past few days, so Craig had gotten used to calming Tweek when it did.

“It’s okay, honey. I don’t think any less of you. It’s okay.”

“I don’t understand, Craig. How could you _not_ be disgusted by me?”

“Don’t let Heidi get into your head,” Craig reminded, rubbing Tweek’s arm. “She’s just trying to start unnecessary drama. It’s not true. I don’t think any less of you.”

Tweek held Craig’s hand and took a few deep breaths before finally relaxing. Craig sat beside him and allowed Tweek to rest his head on his shoulder.

“We can pack tonight. For now, let’s relax, okay?”

Tweek hummed in agreement as he played with Craig’s hand. They laced their fingers together, held their intertwined hands in front of them, and smiled.

* * *

**10/16/2018 10:03 AM [Tweak Residence, Kitchen]**

A few things were changed in terms of furniture, but overall, everything felt the same. His relatives helped themselves to the Tweak furniture and household appliances, as they were rightfully under the impression that Tweek’s parents were sentenced to life in prison. Tweek resented them for drugging him, but a small part of him missed them. A very small part of him.

“Look, your stand mixer is still here,” said Craig, pointing to the pistachio green appliance.

“As easy as that thing made my life, hand mixing is how you get muscles!” Tweek boasted, flexing lean muscles for Craig to sarcastically fawn over.

“God, would you look at those,” Craig dramatically encouraged, pressing his cheek to Tweek’s bicep and rubbing it with his hand. “My man can bench-press me and my friends all at once.”

Blushing, Tweek pushes him off playfully. “You’re so dumb,” he says.

While searching for hot chocolate mix in the cabinets, he found something that made him freeze up. On the very back of the top shelf was his father’s famous Sunset Blend, untouched after all this time. Why his relatives decided to keep it, he wouldn’t understand. It could be a memento his aunt wanted to keep of her brother, but that didn’t stop Tweek from climbing onto the counter to grab it and throw it away.

* * *

**11/22/2011 12:21 PM [Tweak Residence, Tweek’s Room]**

What does an eleven year old boy do when a boy in an orange parka tells him the secret of their parents’ business relationship? He confronts and berates them while parka boy roots for him in the sidelines, of course.

But what Tweek didn’t know was his father’s ability to twist things into working the way he wants them to. He found it harder and harder to call the police with every new point his father made.

”If you call the cops, then they’ll take us away,” Richard explained in that ever so calm voice that Tweek had begun to loathe. “Who will put a roof over your head? Foster care? Foster care will separate you from Craig, son. Do you really want that to happen?”

_Of course this asshole would drag Craig into this!_

“No, but--”

“It’s good for the business, buddy,” he interrupted. “The customers love it, and it makes them keep coming back. Don’t you like all the toys we can afford for you with all this money?”

“I can live without them!” Tweek reasoned, sounding more and more desperate. “I can play with my friends’ toys if I have to!”

“You’re being selfish, Tweek. Think about your parents and how much this business means to us, okay?”

Balling his fists, Tweek bit his lip, his teeth digging far enough to draw blood. Before he could blow up in front of his father, Kenny stepped in, grabbing Tweek by the arm.

“Come on, man. Let’s get out of here.”

Kenny led Tweek out of the kitchen and all the way outside, where Craig was waiting. Tweek immediately rushed over and tugged on Craig’s sweater, screaming and crying in frustration into his chest.

“Good, you got my text,” said Kenny. “It got pretty bad in there.”

By this point, Craig was still a beginner when it came to calming Tweek. All he could think of doing was wrapping his arms around him and patting his back lightly. He eyed Kenny for help, but all Kenny could think of was patting him on the head.

“Let’s take him to my place,” Craig suggested, pushing Tweek off of him gently and grabbing onto his hand. He notes the blood on his lips and runs his thumb over it, but Kenny waves at him to ignore it and go.

In his bedroom, Craig sat the still frustrated Tweek on his bed, and Kenny took a seat beside him to continue calming him down.

“I’ll get you some coffee, babe. We have the store brand kind, so it should be clean.”

“No,” Tweek demanded, staring down Craig when he placed his hand on the doorknob.

Craig turned and raised an eyebrow, but Tweek was hunched over, gripping his kneecaps tightly. He walked in front of Tweek and kneeled down to his level, looking up at glossy eyes trying to fight back tears.

“I’m never drinking coffee again. I can’t trust any of it. I don’t even want to look at it.”

“I understand, but you work at a coffee shop, honey.”

“I don’t want to work for them, but…”

Tweek brought his hands to his face, hiding his eyes behind them for a moment before sliding up to slip his hair through his fingers and grip it. Craig reached for his hands to stop him, but Tweek swatted him away and returned to his previous position.

“Tweek’s shithole dad will just twist his words around and guilt trip him into working for him. That’s what he did earlier.”

“Fucking hell, that son of a bitch!” Craig cursed, pushing himself up to stand. “I’ll kill that guy!”

“No!” Tweek cried, grabbing onto his arm as he slid off the bed and fell to his knees. “If you kill him, you’ll go to jail!”

“If I expose him, _he’ll_ be the one to go--”

“You can’t do that either! If my parents are arrested, then I’ll be taken to foster care! If that happens, then a family might adopt me and take me to another town!”

“Then I’ll--”

“Craig, please, just let me deal with it.”

The room was silent as Tweek collected his thoughts and stood back to his feet, though he sat back on the bed within seconds. Craig sat beside him and placed a hand on his shoulder, but he didn’t say another word. He remembered that sometimes Tweek just needed to let out his emotions, and no matter how much he wants to help, he should just allow Tweek to sort things out on his own. His support is greatly appreciated however, and Tweek squeezed his hand to make sure that Craig knew this.

“Thanks for telling me about all of this,” he told Kenny, turning to him with a weak smile. “If you guys can, it would be really cool if you help me break my coffee addiction.”

* * *

**01/02/2012 07:42 AM [Tweak Residence, Kitchen]**

People rarely followed through with their New Year’s Resolution, and Tweek was no exception to this. In his defense however, this was mainly due to the withdrawals from discontinuing the consumption of meth coffee and his parents’ disregard of their son’s health.

Depression and fatigue are side effects that go hand in hand, which created a Tweek that almost never left his room. He was always late for school because he was always too tired to get up, and when he was awake, he could hardly focus on anything.

This morning, he dragged himself out of bed and drank the first thing he found in the kitchen: the coffee from his father’s cup. Richard was surprised to have his cup taken away from him so suddenly, but that surprise was replaced with delight when he came to the conclusion that Tweek wanted to drink his brand again. It took a minute for Tweek to notice that his father was babbling about him coming back to support the family business, then it took another minute for him to scream, drop the cup on the ground, then run to the bathroom to throw the coffee back up.

_Please, no! I was doing so well! I can’t do this!_

Tweek locked himself in the bathroom for almost thirty minutes, which was enough time for Craig to notice the reply time in between texts. When he arrived, Tweek’s parents had already left to tend to the shop, so Craig called Tweek’s name upon letting himself in and entering the house.

“Tweek?” he called out, knocking on the door with light peeking out from the bottom. “Are you in the bathroom?”

“There’s no coffee in here,” Tweek muttered, lying on the floor. “I can’t drink coffee if I lock myself in here.”

“Babe, that’s ridiculous. I’m not going to let you lock yourself in a bathroom.”

“It’s what I deserve. I couldn’t stay away. I’m a failure.”

“Honey, unlock the door. At least let me be with you when you’re down.”

“I don’t deserve to see you.”

Craig rattled the doorknob with no luck, so he decided to search for an article online on how to open locked doors. Following the step-by-step directions, he took a plastic arcade game currency card from his wallet, bent a small part of it, then slid and wiggled it around inside the space between the door and the frame. The door creaked as it slowly opened, revealing a half lidded blond who didn’t acknowledge his presence.

“Please close the door,” Tweek spoke in monotone, staring straight into nothing.

Unwilling to let his boyfriend lock himself away forever, Craig grabbed Tweek by the armpits and dragged him into the kitchen. Though he wasn’t strong enough to carry Tweek, he attempted to do so anyway, dropping him on a chair at the table.

“Looks like your mom left some breakfast for you. I’ll reheat it and bring it to you, so wait there, okay?”

As Craig popped a plate of bacon and eggs into the microwave, Tweek sat up in his chair, despising the strong smell of coffee in the room. It always smelled of coffee, but this time, it was worse. Just one sip had shattered all of his efforts, making the scent alluring to him. He already broke once, so it’s not like he has to try anymore, right?

Craig hurried over to the bathroom, determined to beat the microwave timer and return before the alarm. Tweek took this opportunity to pour himself a quick cup of leftover coffee from the carafe, but before the cup could reach his lips, Craig returned and pulled it out of his hands. Tweek could only pout and stare at his now empty hands as Craig lectured him on the dangers of addiction.

“Please, honey, you can’t drink that!” Craig pleaded, grabbing both of Tweek’s arms when he caught him eyeing the carafe again. “You were doing great, and you can still break the addiction!”

“I’m so tired all the time. Coffee wakes me up. Coffee will make everything better,” Tweek mumbled, still staring at the carafe.

“That coffee is drugged, babe,” Craig explained with a soft tone. “Your idea to not drink coffee at all was great. If you’re tired, you just need caffeine in your system, right? There’s energy bars. They make them in chocolate, too. You like chocolate. There’s also caffeine patches, I think. We can go buy some right now, if you want.”

Tweek drowned out Craig’s voice as he continued to stare longingly at the carafe. The smell wafting from it was still strong, tempting him to break away from Craig’s grip and chug the coffee straight from the carafe. He’d do so if he wasn’t so tired and weak.

“Don’t think I can’t see you eyeing it,” Craig pointed out. He released Tweek and poured the coffee down the sink, then he began to search the cabinets for more coffee to throw out.

“Mom and Dad will get angry if you do that,” Tweek advised, staring at the sink. “They won’t let you back here if you throw away their products.”

Craig cursed quietly, placed the bag of coffee beans back on the cabinet shelf, then jumped down from the counter. He held Tweek’s face in his hands and contrasted the empty look in his eyes with a smile.

“I’ll help you,” he said. “All that stuff I was talking about, I’ll buy for you. I’ll send you a bunch of reminders every day to not drink coffee, too.”

“Why are you trying so hard?” Tweek asked, his dejected eyes turning glossy. “I’ll just break again and disappoint you.”

Tweek hung his head low to hide his falling tears. Craig took his hand, led him to the couch, then sat him down. He sat with his shoulder behind Tweek’s body and held onto the arm farthest from him, allowing Tweek to rest his head by his neck.

“Even when you’re depressed, you’re still stubborn,” Craig noted, chuckling softly. “I’m helping you because I care about you, and…”

Craig paused. Though he didn’t quite have a good grasp on the concept of love, nor was he old enough to truly understand it, he still practiced in his head how he would tell Tweek. Holding him close while he was crying didn’t seem like the best time, but when would it ever be the best time? This is a good way to show Tweek how far he’s willing to go to help him, right?

“...and because I’m in love with you.”

He watched Tweek’s reaction from the corner of his eye with his heart beating in his chest, but there was none. Tweek didn’t respond at all. In fact, Tweek had fallen asleep, since the small sip of coffee that he had was nowhere near enough to beat his fatigue.

Sighing, Craig stroked Tweek’s hair. A sudden notification tone coming from Tweek’s pocket caught his attention, and when he reached over to see who was messaging him, he scowled. It was none other than his heartless father asking him to help out at the shop when he’s finished throwing up.

“Fuck you,” Craig said aloud, though he tried to relay the same message in a more respectful manner for Tweek’s sake.  He didn’t think Richard was really capable of yelling, but he didn’t want Tweek to get in trouble for something he did.

* * *

 

**10/16/2018 12:09 PM [Tweak Residence, Living Room]**

Earlier, Tweek continued to shuffle through the cabinets to throw away as much of his father’s brand as possible. Craig wanted to question this, but when he saw the bag in Tweek’s hand, he knew the answer to his question right away.

Now, the two of them were sitting on the couch and using Tweek’s uncle’s Netflix account to watch a movie. Craig could tell Tweek was still annoyed by all the leftover coffee, so he wrapped his arms around him and kissed the top of his head.

“What’s gotten into you?” Tweek asked, a tiny smile forming on his lips.

“This place is really nostalgic, don’t you think? We’ve had lots of good memories here.”

“And bad ones—”

“Anyway, good memories,” Craig interrupted. “Like for example…”

He leaned over to press a kiss to soft, pink lips belonging to the surprised blond eyeing him curiously.

“I’m sure you remember the story of our first kiss. It happened right on this couch, and you were the one to initiate it.”

“Oh yeah. I did, didn’t I?” Tweek recalled, blushing lightly.

* * *

**08/17/2013 09:05 PM [Tweak Residence, Tweek’s Room]**

On this day, Tweek turned twelve years old. Unfortunately for him, his parents couldn’t throw him a party, claiming that closing the business for just one day would be enough to hurt their sales. On top of that, Tweek was asked to help.

Though the meth coffee withdrawals were still present, Craig and his friends’ support helped immensely. Token took good, legible notes for when Tweek fell asleep in class. Jimmy developed a do-it-yourself caffeine patch using large bandages, pure caffeine powder, and isopropyl alcohol, which Token funded. Clyde made sure Tweek had something to eat and something to laugh about, which usually involved making fun of Craig in some way. Craig kept his promise of reminding Tweek to stay away from coffee, and he even walked Tweek to school every morning.

Today, Craig let the guys inside Tweek’s house to surprise him. Kenny, Stan, Kyle, and Butters had left their presents with them before running off on another ridiculous adventure, so Craig dropped them off in Tweek’s room. Tweek had already texted him minutes ago that he’ll be home once he finishes cleaning, leaving the gang about five minutes to decide where to put the cake and hide.

“Token, move the legos and put the cake on Tweek’s desk. Jimmy, hit Clyde with one of your crutches. He’s messing with Tweek’s clothes again.”

“The dude has decent clothes!” Clyde whined. “Why does he insist on wearing the same green shirt over and over?”

Jimmy whacked Clyde on the leg with a crutch, causing the boys to stop and laugh. Craig carried the gifts over by the desk and set them neatly on the floor.

“So are you guh-gonna kiss him today or wh-what?” Jimmy wondered aloud, catching Craig off guard.

“It’s obvious you haven’t yet,” Token pointed out, placing a hand on Craig’s shoulder, only to have it quickly shaken off. “It’s almost funny watching you attempt and fail all the time.”

“What’s the problem, dude?” Clyde laughed, trying to force one of Tweek’s small sweaters over his shirt. “It’s been two years since you two got together. Grow some balls, dude.”

“It’s not the right time, okay?” Craig argued, folding his arms. “He’s going through a lot right now, so trying to kiss him might stress him out.”

“Is he not ready, or are you not ready?” Token asked.

Craig rolled his eyes and ignored him, though the boys were smirking at his blush. They could hear the door turning downstairs, so the boys quietly hurried to find a hiding place: Token behind a dresser, Clyde under the covers, Jimmy in the closet, and Craig by the lightswitch, which he turned off.

When Tweek opened the door, the light from the hallway shined on the lump in his bed. Without bothering to turn the lights back on, Tweek walked over and flopped onto the lump, earning a strangled cry from Clyde.

“Craig, why are you hiding in there?” Tweek laughed, pulling off the covers to reveal Clyde. He screamed and fell backwards, prompting Craig to turn on the lights and laugh along with everyone else.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you,” Craig apologized. “It was a surprise, but we didn’t think you’d run into Clyde like that.”

“Why would you hide in my bed of all places?” Tweek questioned.

“Better question, why did _you_ expect Craig to be in your bed, hmmm? Little young to be getting it on, don’t you think?” Clyde joked, which led to Tweek pulling the pillow from underneath him to smother him.

“Suffocate,” said Craig as he took Tweek’s hand and led him to the cake. Token and Jimmy left their hiding places to join them, and after fighting with the pillows and blankets, Clyde joined them shortly after.

When the party died down near midnight, each boy took turns saying “happy birthday” to Tweek and whispering “good luck” to Craig. Craig pushed all of them outside and closed the door on them. Tweek then approached him, took his hand, and led him to the couch.

“You can’t spend the night, huh?” Tweek asked disappointedly, despite Craig already telling him this much earlier.

“My mom will personally come here and drag me away if I do. She’s being insistent about me waking up on time to go to church. I’m sorry, honey.”

The two looked down at their intertwined hands, then back at each other.

“Why were the guys saying ‘good luck’ to you earlier? You know, before you kicked them out.”

With his hand still in Tweek’s, Craig turned away for a moment to lick his lips in case they were chapped, wiped off the saliva, then turned back to Tweek.

“Who knows what those idiots are thinking,” he claimed.

To his surprise, Tweek grabbed the tassels of his chullo and pulled him down, stealing a short and sweet kiss before pushing him away.

“I, uh… I never answered you that day you told me you were in love with me,” he mumbled, his cheeks burning from his sudden bold action. “You’ve done so much for me, so it would be crazy of me not to love you back. Anyway… I love you too.”

Tweek eyed his parents room for a second, then turned back to Craig, waiting for his response.

“I thought you fell asleep,” he said.

“I kind of did, but I still heard you. I had pretty bad voices in my head at the time, so I didn't really believe you then, but now I know you meant it… Right?”

“Yes—I mean, yeah, I do! Love you, I mean,” Craig confessed, lowering his voice into a near whisper after the previous outburst.

He placed a hand on Tweek’s cheek and leaned down for another kiss, only for it to last just a few seconds before he received a text from his mother calling him home.

* * *

**10/29/2016 12:01 AM [Tucker Residence, Craig’s Room]**

Even though his mother pulled out an air mattress and some blankets for Tweek, there was no way Craig was going to let Tweek sleep on the floor tonight. He never did during their sleepovers, but today was no exception. His parents were arrested not too long ago, and he had just started living with the Tuckers, so Craig was determined to make sure that Tweek was as comfortable as possible.

“You know what’s ironic?” Craig asked out of the blue, staring up at the ceiling.

Though Tweek despised his parents for what they’ve been doing to him for so long, he was still shaken from the day’s events. He knew Craig was trying to make him feel better, so he played along.

“What?”

“Our anniversary was yesterday, but we both forgot. You wanna do something  to make up for it?”

“What did you have in mind?”

Craig had limited knowledge on criminal cases, but as far as he was concerned, criminals with life sentences have to give up their possessions. Next to Tweek living with him, he saw this as a positive outcome from the situation, and he believed that selling possessions like the coffee shop could generate a lot of money for Tweek.

“You can make a lot of money from selling the coffee shop. We’ll use the money to go on a nice date, then spend the rest on rehab. If you want to go, that is.”

As much as Craig and his friends’ support helped him, Tweek felt there was something that rehabilitation could do that online research wasn’t telling them. He read that there were certain things that meth users can’t recover from on their own, even if they’ve given it up for a long period of time. Determined to better himself to assure Craig that he could stand on his own and help _him_ out instead, Tweek agreed.

“I think that would be good for me,” he said. “I appreciate everyone’s help, but this would probably help me a lot. I want to get my life together so I don’t end up dragging you down.”

“You’re not dragging me down, but if you think it’ll help, I’ll support you. I’ll even take you there every day.”

“Craig, I don’t want to have to rely on you so much--”

“Well I’m going to make you rely on me because I fucking love you,” Craig smiled, pushing Tweek’s nose down with his finger. “You can’t stop me.”

“Well someday I’ll be so healthy, I’ll be taking care of you,” Tweek replied, poking Craig on the cheek. “I’ll kick everyone’s ass. I’ll kick your ass. I’ll kick my own ass.”

“Whoa there, babe. I don’t know if we’ll be able to get you into meth rehab _and_ anger management.”

Tweek giggled, kicking Craig underneath the sheets. After a while, they calmed down and just stared at each other with wide, goofy smiles.

“I can’t believe you suggested that we get married. I can’t believe how whipped you are.”

Craig flipped over with a huff, facing away from Tweek.

“Shut up. Keep insulting me and I won’t invite you to our wedding. I’ll just get drunk with the guys and change your last name. Then again, when my parents legally take custody over you, you’ll technically be an official Tucker.”

“What? Will that make us brothers?”

“God, no!” Craig shuddered, turning back to Tweek. “Taking custody is not the same as adopting. I don’t want to make out with my _brother_.”

More giggling ensued, followed by silence. The boys were getting drowsy, so Tweek curled up next to Craig as Craig wrapped an arm around him.

“I’m glad the Asian girls drew me with you. There’s no one else I’d rather be with,” Tweek whispered before falling asleep.

“Me too,” Craig whispered back.

* * *

**10/16/2018 12:15 PM [Tweak Residence, Living Room]**

Tweek latched onto Craig’s arm, hugging it tightly and snuggling his cheek into it.

“I want to return the favor and do whatever I can for you. You’ve done so much for me. I love you so much.”

“Tweek…” Craig sighed, pressing his hand to his forehead. “I feel like I hurt you the other day. You kept thinking that I hated you because I treated you like some kind of monster. Briefly, but it was enough to worry you.”

“Craig…”

“I was stupid to believe that we could get through this game with as little bloodshed as possible. If you have to get your hands dirty to protect me, then I will too for the same reason. I won’t do anything to make you believe that I’m not on your side, because I will promise you a million times that I am. Do you believe me?”

Tweek nodded fiercely and wrapped his arms around Craig’s neck. Craig held him tightly, burying his face into his shoulder and gripping onto his shirt.

Moments later, Tweek pushed Craig off of him and stood up from the couch.

“I’m getting hungry. I’m going to make lunch for us, okay? You can leave the show running.”

“Alright, babe.”

 

* * *

 

**10/16/2018 11:37 PM [Tweak Residence, Tweek’s Room]**

After hours of Netflix binging, preparing meals, and testing the locks set by Tweek’s relatives for added security, Craig lied on Tweek’s bed as Tweek wandered around, observing more of the changes made to his house.

Before he returned, he checked the recent entry in his diary.

 **11:40 PM [My House, 2nd Floor Bathroom]  
** Craig joins me in the shower. I need to act like I'm not excited.

He strides into the room confidently, hung his arms around Craig’s neck, and sat on his lap. Craig tossed his phone aside and wrapped his arms around Tweek’s waist, pulling him closer.

“What are you up to?” Craig wondered, pressing their foreheads together.

Tweek leaned in for a kiss. Sweetly and quietly, he kept his lips pressed on Craig’s for a few seconds, then pulled away with a smile.

“I’m gonna take a shower,” he said, removing Craig’s hands from his waist. “I’ll leave the door unlocked.”

As he hops out of Craig’s lap, he places his phone face down on the table and walks into the hallway.

Once he reaches the bathroom, Tweek attempts to calm his deafening heartbeat with a hand on his chest. He doesn’t understand why he doesn’t feel that he’s ready for sex. He’s intimate with Craig at times, sure, but it never reached the stage of penetration, which he feared the most. He tries to remind himself that it’s nothing to be afraid of, but the fact that many consider it a huge step in a relationship has him feeling nervous and insecure about it.

 _What if it hurts? What if I end up not liking it? What if_ **_he_ ** _ends up not liking it because of_ **_me_ ** _? What if I fuck it up somehow, and he won’t want to do it ever again?!_

He shook his head, pushing those thoughts to the back of his mind.

 _I’m_ _just going to allow things to happen the way my diary says_.

He turns on the shower and waits for the water to warm up. With his phone still in the bedroom, he can only hope that the future will stay the way it was. He wants Craig to come join him, and whatever it leads to, he’ll just let it happen.

A knock on the door startles Tweek, despite knowing who it was and what they wanted. Half dressed at this point with only his boxers still clinging to him, Tweek holds the door open and allows Craig inside without him having to ask.

“So are we doing this or what?” Craig asked, pulling his shirt off and tossing it on the floor.

“If you don’t close the door right now, I’ll kick you out.”

Immediately upon walking inside and kicking the door shut, Craig cupped Tweek’s cheeks and nearly crashed their teeth together when he kissed him, falling victim to the blond’s attempt at seduction. He wondered for a moment if Tweek was okay with this, but when he felt his body being pulled close to his lover’s, he tossed those worries aside.

“Shit, babe. It’s been a while, hasn’t it?” Craig spoke with a low groan, holding Tweek’s face in front of his.

“It sure has.”

_Shut up and kiss me, idiot._

Tweek pulled Craig towards him to meet his lips again. As he felt the cold wall on his bare back, his front was met with the warmth of Craig’s body pressed on his.  

_I want to feel your skin on mine._

Tweek began unbuttoning Craig’s jeans, causing him to pull away to slide them and his boxers down.

“You’re hard,” Tweek whispered, feeling more aroused as he stared at his boyfriend’s erection.

_I want you. I want you. I want you so bad._

“Started when I had you on my lap, and it got worse since then,” Craig admitted, smirking by Tweek’s ear as he began removing the other’s boxers as well. “You are too, I see.”

 **_Fuck_ ** _, I wanna touch you._

Shaking off and kicking the fallen underwear towards the pile of clothes, Tweek led Craig to the tub by the hand, then pushed him against the wall as he reconnected their lips. Being forceful, dominant… God, was it a rush. The feeling of Craig’s warm skin under his hands had him moving faster, allowing the sexual urges to take control and move his body on its own.

_I need more of you so fucking bad._

He was quick to slip his tongue inside the taller boy’s mouth, pulling him down with his arms around his neck to taste as much as possible. The warm water hitting him from behind and the steam filling the room only made him more flushed and desperate for Craig’s body on his, making him pull the boy closer, pushing their erections against each other.

_God, fuck, I want you closer. Closer!_

After enjoying the feeling of Tweek’s tongue rolling around his mouth, Craig pulled away to switch places with the blond to where he was the one against the wall, then began licking and sucking on the side of his neck.

“Ahh… You know I’m sensitive there… And I told you not to put that where I can’t hide it!”

_No, please keep going. It feels so good._

“You don’t like it, then?”

“Well, I…”

_Fucking liar, just tell him you want it!_

“Just… just don’t leave a mark.”

“I won’t. Promise.”

Running his hands down the shorter boy’s chest to his hips, Craig dipped down and pressed light kisses on Tweek’s neck. Licking up when he reached the base, he then placed more kisses. Repeating on the other side, he loved making Tweek moan as he breathed “I love you” in his ear to make him shiver before nibbling softly on it. He loved driving him crazy without touching the cock rubbing against him when he knows he wants him to.

Craig felt the need to tease Tweek, running his hands on his stomach, his waist, his back, his ass, but not his dick. He had a plan for that later, but not too much later, as his own erection was becoming more painful by the second.

First was Tweek’s nipples. Craig kneeled in between his legs and dove forward to capture a pink nub in his mouth. He circled one with his tongue, licked the nub, then bit down gently, pulling it back until it slipped out of his teeth. He repeated the process with the other, rubbing and pinching the one he left behind as he did.

“Just touch me Craig, please!” Tweek cried out, grabbing the side of the tub as he rolled his head to the side.

_Please, please, please touch my cock. Stop teasing me, please!_

“Be patient, honey. I’ll take care of you, don’t worry.”

Next were his thighs. He placed a small kiss on the tip of his love’s cock, then ignored it completely in favor of biting down on a wet inner thigh, much to Tweek’s annoyance. Craig licked the teeth marks he had left, trailed upwards towards Tweek’s needy erection, then skipped over it once again to his other thigh, biting down and running his tongue on as many places as possible.

Tweek trembled under his boyfriend’s tongue, begging for him to use it where he needs it the most. Assuming that Craig had no intention of fulfilling his needs, he decided to take care of his problem himself, moving his hand to grip his throbbing dick.

_You’re too slow!_

Craig grabbed his wrist before he could do so, then finally engulfed the blond’s dick in the warmth of his mouth without warning, causing him to gasp and moan loudly. Humming proudly to himself, he sent those vibrations from Tweek’s cock to the rest of his body until the boy was left writhing and bucking his hips.

“Craig, _Craig_ , oh my fucking god, don’t stop!”

From the many times that they have done this sort of thing, Craig knew that Tweek was noisy when being pleasured. In an empty house, he was free to play with Tweek however he liked, and an aroused Tweek calling his name only spurred him on to pleasure him more just to hear that voice.

Every lick, suck, and twirl of the tongue pushed Tweek over the edge, leaving him panting heavily and grabbing a fistful of black hair. As he ran his lips up and down, Craig grabbed Tweek’s cock and pumped at the same quick pace as his mouth. Tweek could feel his orgasm coming closer and closer, ready to spurt out at any second.

“I’m coming…”

“Go ahead.”

Craig swirled his tongue on the tip of Tweek’s cock, tasting the precum before taking the entire length back into his mouth. When he heard Tweek cry out, he felt a stream of cum run down his throat. Pulling away with a “pop”, he swallowed the seed and wiped his mouth. Now all that was left was to take care of his own problem.

Without waiting for a response, Tweek pulled Craig up for a kiss, tasting his own orgasm on Craig’s tongue as he relaxed from his high. It didn’t taste good by any means, but if it meant that Craig would go down on him more often, then he’ll learn to suck it up.

Not wanting to face the slow, tortuous buildup he gave to Tweek, Craig grabbed his own length and began stroking quickly, prepared to prevent any attempts that Tweek might make to do it for him.

Tweek stared up at him in a mix of confusion and arousal when Craig pushed him back onto the wall and started kissing him again. He slipped his hands into wet black hair and angled himself to kiss Craig properly, oblivious to his intentions.

When he felt himself reaching climax, Craig pulled away and nuzzled his forehead on Tweek’s shoulder. With his hand only loosely covering his tip, much of his cum spurted and dripped onto Tweek’s stomach.

“I wanted to get you off,” Tweek pouted, pushing Craig off of him to let the water wash off the sticky white liquid.

“And let karma fuck me over? I wouldn’t set myself up for that. Besides, I swallowed, so let me have this one.”

“Funny you should mention that. I’ll make sure to put you through the same torture next time,” Tweek grinned with a wink. “Now get out, man. I really need to take a shower, and I don’t need to keep running into you in this small bathtub.”

“I have to shower too, so I’ll just sit on the toilet until you’re done.”

“And what, _stare_ at me the whole time? God, you’re such a creep.”

Craig stood and exited the tub, laughing as he held his hands up in mock surrender.

“A creep that sucked your dick!” he chimed, wiping himself with a towel before leaving the room.

“Why are you proud of that?” Tweek called out after him, though he ended up giggling at the comment as he poured shampoo into his hand.

* * *

**10/16/2018 11:41 PM [???, ???]**

A static sound rang throughout the room of a young boy lying on his bed. Resting on his stomach while propping himself up with one arm, he tapped his pen on the page of his open notebook. On the top, he had written “Master Plan”, then he began a writing a numbered list of the steps involved in said plan.

When he finished, he checked the three new entries on his phone.

“It all begins at 10:45 tomorrow morning.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do you have any idea how much research goes into my fanfictions? The FBI guy spying on my history is probably thinking that I’m some kind of criminal with all these searches on drugs, poison, and weapon usage.
> 
> Anyway, like always, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I’m very new when it comes to writing smut, but I hope the rest of the chapter content makes up for it!


	7. Visiting Hours

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please don’t read too heavily in between the lines. The methods used in this chapter came straight from the original anime, so I’m not making any statements or trying to purposely trigger anybody. If this vague notice worries you, feel free to skip to Chapter 8. I’ll do a quick recap in the beginning of that chapter.

**10/17/2018 10:21 AM [Tweak Residence, Tweek’s Room]**

He had slept over numerous times, but waking up in Tweek’s bed after two years felt different. Not bad-different, but it wasn’t the same feeling Craig usually had. The light snoring coming from his boyfriend advised Craig not to wake him, as Tweek tended to become cranky when woken abruptly. He reached for his phone on the bedside table and saw that Tricia had messaged him the night before.

 **Tricia:** stripe keeps squeaking at me! how do you make him stop?  
**Tricia:** can you guys stop fucking for two seconds and come over here???

Normally, Stripe would sleep beside Craig, and occasionally Tweek, so it’s likely that he was just feeling lonely. Craig thought about explaining that to Tricia, but he did miss Stripe, so he decided to pay them a quick visit to check on him.

Tweek’s eyes fluttered open from the bed creaking under Craig’s shifted weight. He tugged on Craig’s shirt and rubbed his eyes, stopping him from leaving.

“Where are you going?” he yawns, holding his hand over his mouth as he sat up on the bed. “Are you hungry?”

“Tricia’s having some trouble with Stripe, so I’m going to check on them. Wanna come?”

His relatives won’t mind if he’s gone for a little while, right? He’ll be right back anyway, plus Stripe is his pet too. He can’t bring him over, mainly because his relatives would freak out if there was an animal running around the house.

“Yeah, I’ll come. We can grab something quick to eat from there, too.”

Craig pulled his shirt over his head and tossed it at Tweek.

“Hurry up and get dressed then, loser.”

* * *

**10/17/2018 10:28 AM [Tucker Residence, Craig’s Room]**

As he awaits Craig’s return after his chat with Tricia, Tweek lies on Craig’s bed with Stripe on his chest. He sighs dreamily, stroking Stripe’s fur as the rodent squeaks with delight.

“I don’t get it, Stripe,” he says softly, hoping Craig isn’t listening in. “What on earth could’ve possessed Craig to care about me so much? I mean, I’m such a hassle, and yet…”

Tweek places Stripe on the mattress as he rolls onto his side, facing the wall. He holds a hand out for Stripe to snuggle up against, giggling from his whiskers tickling his skin.

“Visiting my house again brought back so many great memories of the things he has done for me. Once I graduate and make enough money to actually pay for the bills to live in it, I’ll take my house back for the two of us.”

Stripe squeaks, nudging Tweek’s hand with his snout.

“We’ll bring you too, don’t worry,” he assures, smiling as he places a hand on Stripe and strokes him with his thumb.

“And here we see my favorite boys in their natural habitat,” Craig announces when he walks into the room, pointing a camcorder at Tweek and Stripe.

Tweek sits up with Stripe in his hands, raising an eyebrow at Craig. He’s holding the small, silver camcorder that the two played with back when they were in middle school.

“Turns out Tricia had it the whole time,” Craig explains, turning off the camcorder and pushing the screen back into place. “Anyway, what were you guys talking about?”

Tweek hums away, pretending to be too busy petting Stripe to answer Craig’s question. Craig places the camcorder on his desk and swipes Stripe away, holding him close to his chest.

“Excuse me, that is my son,” said Tweek, holding back laughter.

“We haven’t eaten breakfast, yet,” Craig points out. “Let’s just grab something here before we head back.”

Tweek rolled out of bed and followed Craig to the kitchen. The previous day’s events left him calm and carefree, and the only thing going through his mind is how he’s going to spend the day with Craig today. They’ll still have to watch the house together, so maybe they can watch more movies, play video games, or even invite friends over if they promise not to break anything. The possibilities are endless.

“I can make breakfast,” Tweek offers, watching as Craig digs through the freezer for pre-made breakfast options.

“We can’t stay out for too long, right?” Craig reminds him. “You’ve been spacing out a lot. Something on your mind?”

Before Tweek could respond, Craig slipped his arms around his waist and pulled him close.

“Are you still thinking about what happened last night?” he whispered into Tweek’s ear, sending a shiver down his spine.

“No, I just…”

Tweek wasn’t thinking about it before, but he definitely was now. His cheeks flush as he recalls the event in detail.

“Just go throw some waffles into the toaster,” he says, pushing the smug Craig away from him and sitting down at the dining table.

* * *

**10/17/2018 10:45 AM [Tweak Residence, Outside]**

“Hi, um…”

The couple turned to the source of the voice, which belonged to a young, dark haired boy dressed in a red hoodie, a white t-shirt with the Canadian flag in the middle, and dark gray cargo pants. He held a small black backpack in one hand instead of on his back.

“Where have I seen this kid before?” Craig whispers to Tweek, but Tweek shushes him.

The boy took Tweek’s reaction as a signal to continue speaking. “I’m running away for a little while to escape my parents. I was hoping to stay with Tricia, but she wasn’t home when I rang the doorbell—”

“Why Tricia?” Craig interrupted. With a closer look and a few seconds of digging through his memory, he recognized the boy to be one of Tricia’s friends that visits often. Despite this, he could only vaguely remember his name.

From the tone of Craig’s voice, the boy could tell that this interaction was already going poorly, so he decided to try and explain himself.

“Well, she’s a good friend, and—”

“You don’t need to stay with Tricia,” Craig interrupts again, folding his arms. “Don’t you have any other friends?”

“Aww…” Tweek coos, grinning at Craig. He pat Craig on the chest while attempting to contain his amusement, much to Craig’s displeasure.

“What?” he hissed.

“What would Tricia say if she found out that you were secretly protective of her?” Tweek whispers, unable to resist the urge to tease Craig.

Though they were already whispering, Craig grabbed Tweek by the arm and pulled him inside the house, the door still wide open and their voices not as quiet as they think.

“I’m staying with you while you house-sit, and mom’s hardly home anymore because of work. I’m not letting him stay with her while she’s alone.”

Tweek nearly teared up from how cute Craig was being, or rather, his attempt at pretending to be an indifferent older brother. The two may fight often, but Tricia had recently began treating Craig like a father figure at times, and Craig was surprisingly good at acting like a father.

“You’re so cute when you secretly care about her,” he pointed out, tempted to laugh at Craig’s red tinted cheeks.

“Shut up. Guys only want one thing, and I intend on keeping an eye on him so that he doesn’t get what he wants.”

“Guys only want one thing, do they? Are you included in that?”

“We’ll talk about that another time. For now, we gotta deal with this kid.”

Craig held the door open wider, waving at the boy to enter.

“It’s your lucky day, Ian. You can stay here for a while, but I’ve got my eye on you,” he warns, forming a V with his fingers and pointing them from his eyes to the boy’s.

“...my name is Ike, but thank you.”

“Please take off your shoes and leave them at the door!” Tweek instructed as he and Craig took a seat on the couch.

Ike kneeled down to untie and remove his shoes. As he did, he pulled out a small brown device, attached it to the edge of the door, then pushed it closed. Afterward, he stood by another couch adjacent to the boys and sat when given permission.

Tweek glanced at Craig, who still had his arms folded and was trying to intimidate Ike by staring him down. He rolled his eyes and pushed Craig on the shoulder, earning an annoyed pout from him

“So you’re friends with Tricia, right?” Tweek started as an icebreaker. “What’s she like in school? Different personality?”

“Yeah, I’ve noticed she acts differently in public,” Ike notes, smiling politely as he straightened himself up in his chair and removed his backpack. “Not very social in class, but she’s much more lively around friends like me and our friend Karen.”

“Oh, Kenny’s sister,” Tweek recalled. “We’ve seen her over at your house, right Craig?”

Craig hummed in uninterested agreement, ignoring the conversation by scrolling through pictures of guinea pigs on his Instagram feed. Tweek double tapped one of the photos, which led to Craig swatting him away.

“You’re going to have to forgive him,” Tweek assures Ike, waving a dismissive hand in front of Craig. “He just won’t admit that he’s protective of Tricia.”

“I’m not protective,” Craig mutters, placing his hand on Tweek’s face and pushing him back, though this only seemed to make Tweek laugh instead of stop.

“Oh, that’s understandable,” Ike nods, smiling away the tension. “Weird of me to suddenly ask to stay at a girl’s house, especially one with an older brother. He has a right to be suspicious of me.”

“Just because you understand, doesn’t mean I’m going to stop being suspicious of you,” said Craig.

Tweek ignored Craig’s remark and wondered how to continue the conversation. He debated whether to ask why Ike ran away from home to begin with, but if he remembered correctly, Ike said it had something to do with his parents, and Tweek could definitely relate to wanting to run away from your parents. Because of this, he assumed Ike wouldn’t want to talk about it.

“So how did you guys—”

“Babe, have you seen my hat?”

Craig had stood up, looking around for his favorite chullo. He checked his seat, the floor, and his pockets. He even walked up to Tweek and Ike to gesture for them to stand from their seats.

“Were you even wearing it when we left? Check upstairs,” Tweek advised.

Nodding, Craig headed for Tweek’s bedroom, observing his surroundings on the way. Tweek watched as Craig walked all the way upstairs, and once he was out of earshot, he scooted closer to Ike.

“I’ll just ask this so we can get Craig to stop being so hostile,” Tweek explained with a hushed tone. “Do you have a crush on Tricia? That’s what he’s worried about.”

“Ah, no,” Ike replied. “Actually, I even promised not to like her.”

Tweek tilted his head and raised an eyebrow.

“Friendship code. You and a friend promise not to like the same person,” Ike clarified.

“Aww. Who is it? Someone I know?”

“It’s Karen,” he whispered. “You didn’t hear that from me.”

_Kenny’s sister and Craig’s sister? How cute. Imagine if Kenny and Craig were dating too—_

Tweek shook his head rapidly, confusing and concerning Ike. He sat back in his original spot and held his face in his hands.

_No, no! Why would you think something like that! Craig would never get with Kenny when he has me! Besides, Kenny has…_

Butters’s death replayed in his head. Though he had problems of his own, he could still remember how heartbroken Kenny was when the two of them discovered each others’ identities in the worst way possible. Kenny had helped him through tough times too, so watching a good friend of his mourn the death of someone they really cared about was disheartening.

Ike stared curiously at Tweek’s sudden mood change, wondering what he could’ve said to trigger it. He could hear Craig coming down the stairs, which startled him, as he didn’t know how to explain why Tweek was suddenly depressed.

“So it’s not anywhere upstairs,” Craig sighed.

“Maybe you left it at your place,” Tweek suggests, snapping out of his momentary depression. “Ask Tricia if she knows where it is.”

“I’d rather find it first before she throws it away,” Craig groaned. “Watch Iggy for me, okay babe?”

“His name is Ike, dumbass,” Tweek laughs, waving goodbye.

Tweek and Ike watch as Craig leaves, then turn back to each other.

“Do you need anything?” Tweek asks, standing up. “Have you eaten? I can make something for you.”

Ike is silent for a moment as he stares down at his toes, which doesn’t go unnoticed by Tweek. He walks over to Ike and kneels down to his level. Before he could ask what was wrong, Ike suddenly speaks up.

“Should I go back home?” he asked.

“Huh?” Tweek wonders, surprised. “ I mean, if your parents are upsetting you, you can stay here for a while.”

“I feel bad, though. I feel like I’m intruding on you guys,” Ike admits, standing from his seat and walking towards the door. “I’m sorry, I’ll just be on my way.”

A soft “click” emits from the small brown device when Ike approached it, but Tweek is completely oblivious. Instead, he walks toward Ike, concerned for his wellbeing.

“Are you sure?” Tweek asks. “I know a thing or two about shitty parents, so I understand if you want to be away from them for a while.”

Ike pauses, looking back at Tweek.

“Really?”

“Yes, really. You’re definitely not intruding on us, so don’t feel bad for relying on us for a while. I’m happy to help out a friend of Tricia’s.”

After some thought, Ike nods, then returns to couch while keeping his distance from Tweek.

“If you say so,” he says.

“Now, are you sure you don’t want anything to eat?”

“No, but I do need something.”

“What’s that?”

First, there was silence. Then, Ike sighs. Again, Tweek is confused by his behavior, but he chooses not to question it. He concludes that it’s likely due to his family issues.

“I need you to break your phone.”

Fuck that conclusion.

The diary game may not have crossed his mind at all today, but it became an instinct to slip a folding knife into the back pocket of his jeans as if they were his keys. He pulled out said knife, flipped it open, then lunged at Ike. There was no reason to question this decision. Not when he says something like that.

Ike leaps from couch to dodge, runs toward the kitchen, then pulls a flat white package out of his backpack. As Tweek rushes towards him again, Ike holds the bag in front of him, stopping Tweek in his tracks. His feet slid on the wooden floor, ceasing their momentum.

“One whiff of this gas, and you’ll be poisoned,” Ike declared. “A slow death isn’t fun, is it? If you don’t want me to open this, you’ll keep your distance from me.”

“Another diary user, huh? Cheap trick, attacking me in my own home,” Tweek huffed. He held his knife tightly, awaiting Ike’s next move.

“I have my reasons,” Ike says, refusing to reveal any more than that.

Tweek cursed himself for not checking his diary at all the entire time, but that wasn’t going to change the fact that some shitty user managed to separate him and Craig by using Tricia to distract them.

_I’m too far to take the bag away from him. If I open the door, even if he opens the bag, the gas will just rush out._

Tweek quickly rushes to the door, only to find out that he is unable to pull it open once he unlocked it. The color of the device matched the door, causing him to miss it from a single glance.

“You think I wouldn’t have thought of that?” Ike smirked. “I’ll always be one step ahead of you. I’m honestly surprised that neither of you have checked your diaries to stop my plans.”

With another look, Tweek finds the device and tries to pry it off, but to no avail. He doesn’t see any hinges, spaces, or keyholes on it.

“It’s an electronic lock. You can’t open it without the key. Same goes for the back door.”

Tweek glances around the house quickly, eyeing all possible solutions.

_Opening a window might take too much time, and he might’ve blocked those off too. If I break them, I won’t be allowed back here. If I hold my breath and kill him now, maybe I can take the key from him…_

He promised Craig that killing would be a last resort, but in his mind, that didn’t apply to diary users. Ike was here for the sole purpose of killing him, so why shouldn’t he do the same? Tweek used that logic and bolted toward Ike while covering his nose with his hand.

* * *

**10/17/2018 10:53 AM [Tucker Residence, Outside]**

A familiar blue object sits on the doorstep of Craig’s house. Upon closer inspection, he sees that it’s the chullo he has been searching all over Tweek’s house for. He leans over to touch it, then pulls his hand away when he feels something wet. Cursing, he picks up the hat by the tassel and barges through the front door.

Craig could see a strawberry blonde ponytail pushed up against the top of the couch. He reaches over to flip it in front of Tricia’s face, eliciting a disgruntled cry from her.

“Why was my hat outside, and why the fuck is it wet?” he growls. 

“Right after you left, a dog scratched at the door and dropped it off. I was going to bring it inside, but it had dog drool on it, so I didn’t. Bet you feel like an ass for accusing me, huh?”

She snatched the hat from the yellow poof ball on top and smacked him on the chest with it, then threw it in his face as she returned to the game on her iPad.

Craig didn’t question how the dog knew where to bring the hat, the reason being that he didn’t care enough. The dog generated a lot of saliva however, so putting it on his head wouldn’t be pleasant. He walked into the laundry room, tossed it into the washing machine, then returned to the living room.

He pauses when he realizes that Tweek hasn’t texted him in a while. Tweek always sends at least one text when they’re apart, and from checking his phone, Craig doesn’t see a single one. The two haven’t really texted each other in a while, seeing how they were always together for the past few weeks, so it’s not like it could’ve gotten lost in his messages.

“Trish,” Craig called out.

“What, asshole?”

“Is it weird that Tweek hasn’t texted me in the past few minutes that I’ve been gone?”

“Maybe he’s bored of you,” Tricia sarcastically suggests, her eyes focused on her game.

Craig rolls his eyes.

“Anyway, that Ivan kid is staying with me and Tweek for a little while. Says he’s running from home or something, and there’s no way in hell he’s staying with you.”

“Why would Ike stay with me?” she asked, turning to face him.

“He said he was going to ask you.”

“I’ve never heard anything about that.”

 _Finally,_ Craig realizes that there’s something wrong. Choosing to stay with them without asking Tricia first. His hat appearing on his doorstep when he has no recollection of putting it on in the first place. Ike planned to separate him and Tweek, didn’t he?

For the first time that day, he checked his diary.

 **11:15 AM [Tweak Residence, Living Room]** **  
** Tweek is lying on the floor unconscious from a cyanide gas trap created by the Fifth.

“Shit!” Craig curses aloud, running straight to the door.

“What happened?” Tricia asks, startled by the sudden outburst.

“Nothing, just stay here!”

Looking back at the entry, Craig runs back to the kitchen to grab a rag, then heads out the door.

* * *

 

**10/17/2018 10:58 AM [Tweak Residence, Living Room]**

Ike slides past Tweek and slips on gas mask from his backpack while Tweek tries to gain his momentum back.

“I really don’t want to have to kill you like this. Please just break your phone. A quick death isn’t so bad.”

“If you don’t want to kill me, then why don’t you break your own phone?” Tweek questions, searching for an opening to strike at while Ike hesitates to kill him.

“I can’t,” is all Ike answers.

“Well I need to protect Craig, so I can’t have other diary users after him. Sorry, but I have to get rid of you.”

The static sound emits from their diaries. With one eye on Ike, he checks his phone as quickly as possible. His eyes light up at the entry stating that Craig will return very soon.

“We can’t have that,” says Ike.

He rips off the tab of the package in an instant, filling the room with toxic gas.

“Not so fast!” Tweek shouts.

Covering his nose again, he lunges forward to slash at Ike. Using Tweek’s one-handed imbalance to his advantage, Ike manages to dodge the attack again, then runs up the stairs to hide.

Tweek tries to steady himself and chases after Ike, only to fall for Ike’s thumb tack trap that was set seconds ago. He steps on a tack, and as he tries to pull it out of his foot, he loses his balance and falls down the stairs. A hint of the gas passes through his hands when his body hits the floor, and he immediately feels dizzy. There’s not many options for him left. He needs Craig.

With limited strength, he drags himself to his aunt’s room and locks the door. As he suspected, a lock installed from the outside prevents him from opening the window. He hoped it wouldn’t come to this, but he had no choice. He folds his knife back up and uses the handle to smash the glass. After clearing a big enough space to fit his head without cutting himself, he inhales the clean, outside air, relieving his weakness temporarily.

_A single day of bliss had me distracted long enough for a user to get past me. How could I let this happen? Why was I so careless?!_

From what he can see, the lock on the window is just a manual lever: no key required, but he can’t reach it without possibly getting stuck. He sends a text to Craig to unlock and crawl in through the window from the backyard, but also to be careful not to breathe in the toxic gas. Once his legs give in, he falls over, but he continues to try and hold his breath.

* * *

**10/17/2018 11:01 AM [Tweak Residence, 2nd Floor Hallway]**

Ike knew the lack of noise downstairs meant Tweek had gone into hiding, but it was better to be safe than sorry. Obtaining Tweek’s phone was important to his mission, so he had to hide somewhere nearby and wait for him to die before trying to take it.

He chooses Tweek’s room to hide in. From his earlier infiltration, he learned this was one of the rooms with a lock on the door. He attaches a heavy duty wall hook under the window upside down, which he wraps a rope ladder constructed from bed sheets around.

“Don’t worry. I’ll get rid of them for you.”

* * *

**09/13/2017 09:17 PM [Broflovski Residence, Dining Room]**

“It’s been a while since we’ve talked, hasn’t it? We’ve both been so busy with friends and school, after all.”

While their parents were out for the night, Ike and Kyle were left in the house by themselves, both of them eating a late dinner after their day long activities.

Ike shrugs with indifference, taking a bite from his pizza.

“I mean… I guess…”

He doesn’t hate Kyle. In fact, it’s the complete opposite. With Kyle constantly keeping himself busy throughout the day, Ike needs to do the same in order to not feel so lonely.

“...so I was thinking that maybe we can talk about interesting things that happened to us today,” Kyle continues. “We’re both home at night, so we’ll have a lot to talk about, right?”

“I don’t know,” Ike shrugs again. “Today was kinda boring. I don’t remember anything interesting happening.”

Kyle feels himself being backed into a corner. From his brother’s reaction, he’s under the impression that Ike doesn’t really want to talk to him, which discourages him a little. Regardless, he presses on.

“Okay, well how about this? We can try to find at least three interesting things that happened to us or that we saw, and we’ll remember them so we can talk about them when we see each other at night. How does that sound?”

“Sounds lame…” says Ike.

“Yeah, you’re right,” Kyle agrees, desperate to end the awkward conversation and eat his dinner in his room. “It is kinda—”

“...but I’ll still do it.”

Kyle’s eyes light up. He’s not fully aware of his brother’s loneliness, but he does miss spending time with him, so doing something like this would hopefully strengthen their relationship.

“Oh! Well, great! I’ll look forward to it then!”

* * *

**10/17/2018 10:38 AM [Tweak Residence, 2nd Floor Hallway]**

_Tweek Tweak and Craig Tucker. The First and Second players, respectively._

This whole scenario was too convenient, the house being completely empty and all, but it’s not like Ike was complaining. He grabs another bedsheet from the hallway storage closet, ties it to a rope consisting of several other sheets, then pushes into the corner of Tweek’s closet.

_Both of them are obstacles. They must be eliminated as quickly as possible._

He checks his diary for any dead end flags that might arise if they returned home sooner than anticipated.

 **10:30 AM [Tweak Residence, Backyard]  
** I set traps in the Tweak residence.

 **11:15 AM [Tweak Residence, Living Room]  
** First and Second are killed by cyanide gas.

 **11:18 AM [Tweek Residence, Living Room]  
** I retrieve First and Second’s diaries.

Relieved, he heads downstairs for his last trap. He attaches an adjustable bracket from the outside of the sliding door that led to the backyard, then twists the knob to tighten it, effectively holding the window and door frame together.

_I won’t let them get anywhere near him._

He stands back and observes his work. All escape routes have been locked from the outside, preventing anyone from leaving the building. Thankfully, he didn’t manage to miss any, otherwise he would have to remove the backyard door bracket just to let himself back in. Now all he had to do was climb over the fence and await the return of his competitors.

* * *

**10/17/2018 11:03 AM [Tweak Residence, Master Bedroom]**

Craig pushed his legs through the window first, then slid inside, careful not to land on Tweek. He took off his jacket and held it in front of the weakened Tweek’s face to grab, instructing him to breathe into it, as it hasn’t been contaminated by the gas yet.

“Don’t worry, honey. This time, I’ll save you.”

He knows he doesn’t have much time. Cyanide gas acts quickly, and he prays that Tweek hasn’t inhaled too much of it. He came prepared with the kitchen rag, pressing it tightly to his face as he pulled out his own folding knife.

_I wish it didn’t have to come to this, but I won’t let Tweek die because of you!_

* * *

**10/17/2018 11:05 AM [Tweak Residence, Tweek’s Room]**

_What’s with this room?_

The longer he stayed in it, the heavier he felt. It had a strange, indescribable aura in it that sent a shiver down Ike’s spine.

_Get out._

Startled, Ike looked around, trying to find the source of the voice. Everything seemed normal, and he was beginning to believe that he was going insane. It was as empty as a freshly cleaned hotel room, save for Craig and Tweek’s luggage beside the bed. There was nothing but clothes in those bags, so there was no explanation for the uneasiness he felt.

_GET OUT._

He couldn’t handle spending another second in this room. He was never one to believe in haunted houses, but this room alone felt suffocating to be in, even with his mask. Hiding in the bathroom sounded like a much better option.

Taking a single step out of the room was a grave mistake. A diary like his hardly tells him anything useful, so he did not expect to see Craig waiting right in front of the bathroom, ready to take him down. There was no use hiding back in the room, as Craig already had one hand on the door, so all Ike could do was slip under his arm and head back downstairs, then fight him where there’s more room to escape Craig’s attacks.

Ike didn’t believe he could take on Craig with the knife he prepared if obstacles were to arise, but at this point, he had no choice. Tiring Craig out from running around and making him inhale the gas was a much better plan.

_Stupid room! It was going so well, so why?! What’s with that damn room?!_

He gives his diary a quick glance, hoping that he’ll make it out alive, but he ends up cursing under his breath instead.

 **10:30 AM [Tweak Residence, Backyard]  
** I set traps in the Tweak residence.

 **11:07 AM [Tweak Residence, 2nd Floor Hallway]  
** Second chases me around the house.

 **11:10 AM [Tweek Residence, Living Room]**  
I die by the Second’s knife.  
**—DEAD END—**

Running from Craig was much more difficult than running from Tweek. Craig was taller, making it possible for him to cover longer distances with less steps. He inched dangerously close, up until Ike’s saving grace arrived, though Ike didn’t expect them to.

Tired of being left out of the loop, Tricia arrived at the Tweak residence and knocked on the front door.

“Craig? Tweek?” she called out.

Now both on the first floor, Craig and Ike turned to the door to react to the mutually familiar and unexpected voice. Ike ran away while Craig was distracted, but Craig leaps forward to grab Ike by the leg, successfully tripping him.

“Tricia!” Ike cries out as Craig tries to hold him down. “Tricia, help me!”

“Ike, is that you?” Tricia asks, startled and confused. “Hey, what’s going on in there?”

She tries to peek through the windows, but the blinds block her view.

“Go home, Tricia, please! Don’t call anyone! Just go home!” Craig demands, removing the rag from his face to speak coherently. He knows this will cause him to breathe in the gas, but he won’t let Tricia get involved in this.

Outside, Tricia was panicking. Ike is begging for her to help him, but Craig is insisting that she leave without doing anything.

_Is Craig hurting Ike? Why would he, though? They both sound like they’re in trouble, but Craig said not to call anyone! He left in a hurry earlier, and he even brought a rag with him. And what about Tweek? Did Craig leave because something happened to Tweek? And why is Ike involved in all of this?!_

The only option that popped into her head was to sit on the porch and wait for someone to come out. She considered Craig’s request for her to go home, but she was too worried to do so. She was too worried to even try and distract herself with her phone, so she just sat on the porch, wide-eyed and afraid.

Ike continues his struggle to get away, but Craig’s hold on him is solid. He’s significantly weaker than before, but right now, he’s fueled by revenge. He won’t let this guy get away.

“Trying to get my sister caught in this gas too? You’re some kind of monster!” Craig spat, his knife gripped tightly in his hand.

“I wasn’t! I just—”

“SHUT UP!!!”

With one swift motion, the knife is buried deep in Ike’s back, ceasing his struggles, but not yet killing him. Craig searches his pockets for the key and his phone, the latter being his main priority. The best way to get rid of a dying body is to send it into oblivion, which Craig does by colliding the screen with the jutting corner of the wall.

As he disappears, Ike struggles to turn his head and face Craig. He’s surprised to see that Ike is capable of producing tears after everything he’s done.

“Please don’t… hurt him…”

The house was silent after that. There was no time to waste. Craig pockets a small, flat circular device that he believes to be the electronic key his diary told him about, then leaves to grab Tweek.

“Honey, please don’t die on me,” he pleads, dragging an unconscious Tweek towards the front door.

He can’t tell if Tweek suddenly got heavier, or he’s become too weak to properly coordinate his movements. He tries to muster the strength to call an ambulance at the same time, but an all too familiar— _and certainly unwelcome_ —guest appears before him.

“It smells weird in here,” Heidi notes, collecting all of the gas in the house into a pink, translucent ball and crushing it in her hand. “Anyway, hey, Second! How was your first kill? You put on a great show today, too!”

Craig ignores Heidi and continues dragging Tweek to the door, but his strength is draining fast. He’s panting heavily, dropping to his knees, but he cares too much about his love to stop. At this point, he’s trying to walk on his knees, taking a breath every time he moves Tweek’s body.

“Oh, that’s unfortunate,” Heidi sighs. “You two are doing the most in this game. It would be a shame for you to die like this.”

She places her hand on Craig’s chest, restoring him back to full health. His headache is lifted, his energy is regained, and his nausea has completely disappeared. All of this seems completely wrong.

_Why is she always helping us? What does she want from us, really? But more importantly..._

Though initially very confused and desperate for answers, Craig stands up and holds Tweek in his arms.

“What about him? You’ve gotta save Tweek too!”

“Hm?” says Heidi, putting a finger to her lips. “Then I’d be putting Fourth’s efforts to waste.”

“Fourth?” Craig questions, but he’s cut off by the sirens approaching and Tricia’s voice notifying him of their arrival.

“Better go before she catches me!” Heidi grins, waving goodbye as she disappears again.

“Craig, are you still there?!” Tricia calls out. “There’s an ambulance here!"

Though he’s not strong enough to do this for more than a few seconds, Craig holds Tweek over his shoulder to use his free hand to grab the key and unlock the door. When the paramedics spot the two, they grab a stretcher from the ambulance and roll it towards Craig for him to lie Tweek on top of.

Craig wasn’t prepared to give an answer for why they needed an ambulance, but no explanation was needed. The paramedic that spoke to him only asked if he wanted to go with them, but Tricia tugged on his shirt, still shaken over everything that happened. He declined their offer, choosing to stay and explain the situation to Tricia instead, so they left it at that.

Before the two entered the house, Craig checked the message Wendy sent to him during his talk with Heidi.

 **Wendy:** Hope they got to you in time. I already gave them an explanation, so you don’t have to worry about that.  
**Wendy:** I’ll pick up the Fifth’s diary tomorrow. Please keep it safe until then.

Craig wanted to ask how she knew what was going on, but he had a traumatized little sister to cheer up, a broken window that needs to be fixed, and a house that he has to stay and watch now that Tweek is gone. As much as he would’ve preferred to stay with Tweek at the hospital, judging by Tweek’s reaction to breaking any windows in the house, he would likely throw a fit if he found out that Craig left the house unattended.

* * *

**10/17/2018 11:15 AM [Park County Police Department, 2nd Floor]**

On Wendy’s desk lied several folders and documents, with her phone set off to the side. She organizes the documents, places them in their respective folders, then places them into a stack. Setting them aside, she slides her phone over to where it sits in front of her, pulling up her diary.

 **10/17/2018 11:10 AM [Tweak Residence, Living Room]  
** [Case of Ike Broflovski] Ike Broflovski has been defeated. The case is now closed.

 **10/18/2018 08:28 AM [Hell's Pass Hospital, Tweek Tweak's Room]  
** [Case of Heidi Turner] The diary of the Fifth, Ike Broflovski, has been retrieved.

_Now that he’s been defeated, the case of Ike Broflovski has ended before he even became an issue. Tucker chose to break his phone rather than kill him, huh?_

As soon as she swipes out of the diary, she receives a message. While she expected it to be from Craig, that turned out to not be the case, but she wasn’t disappointed to see who the real sender was.

 **Stan:** I’ve got some useful information for you. I think you’ll find it very helpful!

Wendy chuckled softly. After his mission at the amusement park, Stan has been eager to be as useful to her as possible, even though she hasn’t given him any tasks since then. She’s curious to see what kind of information he has gathered for her.

 **Wendy:** Oh? We’ll meet after I finish some paperwork. Decide on a place, alright?

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not too proud of this chapter because I can’t get over the fact that this whole thing took place in the span of an hour, but I liked the fight scene, so I kept it. Most of the original story elements from Future Diary episode were omitted because they conflicted with the previous chapter, so uh… yeah... I also didn’t have many good examples of the Fourth’s diary from FD, so I had to come up with my own stuff.
> 
> But that aside, I hope you enjoyed what I came up with! Thank you for reading, and stay tuned for the next chapter!


	8. Separation

 

**10/17/2018 11:20 AM [Tweak Residence, Living Room]**

Craig sat Tricia on the couch, left momentarily to pour two glasses of water, then handed her one of them as he sat beside her. The two took a sip before sinking into the cushions, both of them staring ahead blankly. Aside from a couple of couch pillows strewn around, the house wasn’t as messy as Craig expected, saving him the effort of cleaning up and explaining to Tricia what had happened.

Speaking of which, he should probably explain to Tricia what had happened. He hopes she won’t bring up Ike, but that’s just wishful thinking.

“So…” Tricia started, trying to remain calm. She takes another sip of her water before continuing. “Why was there an ambulance for Tweek earlier?”

“He inhaled toxic gas and passed out.”

When he said that, he immediately regretted not going to the hospital with Tweek. He stood from his seat and pulled out his diary to check on how he was doing.

**01:45 PM [Hell’s Pass Hospital, Tweek’s Room]** **  
** Tweek is still asleep. The doctor says he’ll be fine, but he will need to be monitored overnight.

“Oh, thank god…” Craig sighed heavily in relief, falling back onto the couch. Tricia holds her drink steady when he does.

“So he’s going to be okay? Did somebody text you?”

“No, I just—”

He was about to show the diary to Tricia before he catches himself, but after everything that she has seen and heard, Tricia already knew too much. There’s no way for Craig to avoid telling her the truth any longer.

“I’m going to ask you something very important, and you  _ have _ to tell me the truth. Tweek and I are involved in a very dangerous situation, and I need to make sure you aren’t also.”

Tricia nods, prompting Craig to continue.

“There’s a competition going on. It involves the use of “Future Diaries”. Do you know of it?”

She shakes her head.

“Good. That’s great, actually,” Craig answers. “Anyway, that’s what we’re dealing with here.”

He hands Tricia his diary, the entry about Tweek being in the hospital front and center. As Craig continues his explanation, Tricia scrolls up and down to see the other entries.

“The competition is a death match arranged by the god of the universe. Weird, I know, but stay with me here. Me, Tweek, and ten other people have to seek out and kill each other to win the title of God, using the power of foresight to our advantage. Actually, six other people, as far as I’m aware of.”

Tricia was listening, but one entry caught her eye.

**11:10 AM [Tweak Residence, Living Room]** **  
** The Fifth tries to kill Tricia. I stab him and destroy his diary.

Craig leans over to see what she was looking at, then pulls the phone out of her hands gently when she freezes up.

“Is the Fifth… Ike?” she said softly, her voice cracking.

“...yeah,” Craig answered, looking down at the entry. “If it makes you feel better, I don’t think he was really trying to kill you. I was just too angry to hear him out. If anything, I think he was just scared and wanted your help.”

This conversation brought along a heavy tension, and Craig wanted nothing more than to either lighten the mood or just end the conversation completely. Unfortunately, there’s more that he has to explain.

“I’m sorry for… what happened to Ike,” he apologized, unable to have the word “kill” leave his lips. “This game is just really cruel, and I never signed up for it. But I just… He… He was trying to kill us, and if I didn’t… do what I did, the ambulance wouldn’t be able to reach us, and Tweek would have died.”

Never has Craig given a damn about being mindful about his word choice when it came to anyone aside from Tweek, but he cared deeply about his sister, and he didn’t want to constantly remind her that he had killed one of her good friends. Even so, this was a matter of someone’s life at stake versus someone’s feelings. The right choice is obvious.

Tricia took a long sip of her water, holding it up to clear the glass. She stared down at it as she took a minute to understand everything that Craig had explained to her. Finally, she sighed, leaning back on the couch and closing her eyes.

“He tried to kill you guys first, so it’s fair,” she explained, regaining her composure. “Obviously, I’m sad, but still. What I really wonder is what his motive was.”

“Motive? It’s a killing game, you have to—”

“You don’t have to right away,” she clarifies. “From what I understood about your explanation, you have to kill each other eventually, but there’s six of you left, right? He could’ve waited for anyone else to take you guys out instead of risking his life to do it himself so early in the game.”

In Craig’s case, his motive for fighting is always by his side, and the two of them don’t actively seek out other users. If Ike chose to kill them so soon, either he had someone to protect as well and wanted to thin out the competition before anyone could get to that person, or he was just overconfident and wanted to become God. Not knowing much about Ike’s personality, Craig didn’t know which of his conclusions to believe.

“I’ve always known Ike to be a really caring guy, though,” Tricia points out. “Either he’s been deceiving me this whole time, or he has a really good reason for trying to take out the competition.”

This still doesn’t help Craig, but he decides to let it go. The entry states that he won’t be able to see Tweek for another two hours, so until then, he stands and begins removing all of Ike’s traps.

* * *

**10/18/2018 08:00 AM [Tweak Residence, Tweek’s Room]**

Unless it’s a school day, Craig wouldn’t wake up this early. However, his diary stated that Tweek would be released today, so he made sure to choose the most annoying alarm tone to make sure he woke up. It was strange sleeping and waking up in Tweek’s bed without Tweek himself being there. Hell, it was weird not seeing Tweek for a whole day, especially after days of never leaving each other’s sight.

Needless to say, he’s excited to be by his boyfriend’s side again. He texts him “good morning”, something he hasn’t done in years, then hops out of bed to speed through his morning routine.

Before he leaves the house, he grabs a thermos and fills it with water. He’s unsure of what Tweek can or cannot consume after having chemicals used to expel the cyanide from his body, but he assumes water should be fine. Ice cold water is better than stupid lukewarm hospital tap water, after all.

He takes one last look around the house, scanning for any traps he had forgotten to remove. The shattered window was repaired the day before, and Craig cleaned up the broken glass from the floor. That day, he groaned at the thought of having to wash every piece of furniture, decor, and clothing in the house, but judging by how he and Tricia were perfectly fine being exposed to possibly contaminated furniture, he assumed that Heidi managed to empty the house of the gas completely.

His conversation with Tricia resurfaces in his mind, notably the part where they discussed motives. He wondered what Heidi’s motive was. She had mentioned countless times that her actions were for the sake of entertainment, but Craig couldn’t help but think there was more to her frequent visits. It’s likely that she didn’t visit Wendy often, as they both knew that Wendy intends to use her to end the game. He had no clue as to whether she visited the other users often as well. 

For the most part, he’s still very confused as to why she chose to save him, a participant in her “love’s” killing game. It’s too easy for her to escape if he ever tried to confront her about it, but if she ever came back, he would like to ask why she keeps helping them. If possible, he would like to ask if she helps the other users. He recalls her claiming that the two of them were “doing the most in this game” and it would be “a shame for him to die like this”.

_ Maybe this is like giving a bonus to the one with the highest score? _

Craig shakes his head. He shouldn’t be comparing this to a video game, and if anyone has the highest kill count, it would be Tweek. If that was the case, then why didn’t she save Tweek, who needed treatment much more than Craig?

For the time being, he had given up at trying to make sense out of all of this.

It takes one hand placed on the doorknob for Craig to remember to grab Ike’s phone for Wendy. He had left it on the kitchen counter, and he didn’t need to check his diary to know that Wendy was going to be at the hospital to explain things to him, Tweek, and the hospital staff. He slipped the phone into his pocket and left the house.

* * *

**10/18/2018 08:21 AM [Hell’s Pass Hospital, Tweek’s Room]**

The urge to poke the still sleeping Tweek was strong. Craig didn’t care about facing the wrath of his boyfriend from waking him. He just wanted Tweek to wake up so he could see those beautiful, bright green eyes looking up at him again. He was grinning widely just thinking about it.

_ Wake up already! _

Slowly, Craig’s finger inched towards Tweek’s cheek. He held it only a millimeter away before he noticed Tweek’s eyelids fluttering open. Grabbing his hand, Craig held it close to his chest, waiting for his love to notice him.

Tweek awoke in a daze, his vision still blurred. He feels Craig holding his hand, so he clenches it as he smiles at the ceiling.

“Thank you,” he said, turning his head to him. “I knew you could do it.”

“Of course, honey,” Craig smiled back, pushing soft blond bangs above Tweek’s forehead. “Now how about a kiss for your savior?”

Tweek giggles, and Craig leans in to connect their lips. Seconds later, the realization sinks in, filling Tweek with the guilt from before he fell unconscious. He pulls away from Craig as he remembers the regret he felt when he fell for Ike’s innocent facade, cursing under his breath at his stupidity. He closes his eyes and takes a breath.

“Babe?” Craig asked, noting Tweek’s sudden mood swing.

“I could’ve prevented this,” Tweek sighs. “If I wasn’t so careless, you wouldn’t have had to—”

“We  _ both _ were careless,” Craig clarifies. “I’m not going to let you pin this all on yourself when we both didn’t check…” He lowers his voice, glancing at the door. “...our diaries to see if he was dangerous. I’m probably more at fault, seeing how I left you two alone.”

“No, you’re not at fault at all, Craig. I should’ve been protecting you—”

“We’re supposed to be a  _ team _ , Tweek. You don’t have to protect me all the time—”

“I just don’t want you to die!” Tweek hissed, pushing himself up to sit on the bed. 

“I don’t want you risking your life all the time to protect me!” Craig hisses back.

“Well what am I supposed to do? Watch you recklessly put your life on the line?”

“What, you don’t think I can handle myself?”

“I know you can handle yourself,” Tweek answered, trying to calm himself. “I just want to make sure you’re safe, and the best way for me to make sure is to have you stay behind while I—”

“I just want to help!” Craig exclaims.

“I don’t want you to help! I want you safe and alive, because I would die if something were to happen to you that  _ I  _ could have prevented!”

“Damn it, Tweek, why can’t you understand that I care about you as much as you care about me?!”

Startled, Tweek fell silent, staring wide-eyed at Craig. Craig rarely lost his temper when it came to Tweek, so their petty argument left him feeling ashamed. They both looked down, avoiding the other’s eyes.

Their outbursts drew in a crowd of curious patients, hospital staff, and visitors outside of the room, including none other than Wendy Testaburger. She walked into the room, seemingly unfazed by the heavy atmosphere, then placed a cell phone on Tweek’s lap.

“You’re being released today, but try not to stress yourself out too much,” Wendy advises. “Don’t want to end up back in here, do you?”

Tweek nodded, holding his phone in his hands. The first thing he checks are the entries for today. After seeing that everything’s clear, he checks what was going on with Craig and Ike while he was unconscious.

**11/17/2018** ****  
**11:00 AM [My House, Aunt’s Room]  
** Craig received my message and is on his way to defeat Fifth. You can do it, Craig!

**11:10 AM [My House, Living Room]  
** Craig stabbed Fifth and broke his phone. I wish he didn’t have to put himself in danger.

**11:20 AM [My House, Living Room]  
** Craig explains the game and the diaries to Tricia. It seems that she knew too much.

_ I didn’t ask Craig what happened that day, did I? _

There’s no need for debate on Ike’s status. Craig was standing beside him, perfectly fine, and none of the entries stated that Craig needed treatment for any reason. He may have struggled in chemistry class, but it’s unlikely that Craig walked out of the poisonous gas unaffected, even if he breathed into a rag. He even brought Tricia inside, so what happened in between 11:10 and 11:20?

Continuing the post-argument awkward silence would be meaningless right now. Tweek tugged on Craig’s sweater and handed him the diary, pointing at the entries in question.

“You didn’t need treatment at all?” Tweek wonders. “And how were you able to bring Tricia inside?”

“Funny story,” Craig nervously chuckled, glancing back at an equally curious Wendy. Despite the two of them agreeing to help Wendy with her mission, they never remembered to notify her of Heidi’s appearances.

“Unless you did an abnormal amount of laundry and cleaning in the span of ten minutes, you wouldn’t have been able to stay in that house while it was contaminated by the cyanide. My guess is that a certain someone meddled in the game and cleared the house for you,” Wendy concluded, folding her arms in annoyance. 

“Yeah,” Craig replies. “Actually… I was almost going to pass out before she came. I don’t know what kind of magic trick she pulled, but I was fully restored in no time, and the house was cleared as well.”

Tweek pressed his palms onto his forehead, groaning loudly in irritation and confusion.

“She’s always popping up out of nowhere and doing whatever she wants. Now she’s healing you during a death match? What’s with her, seriously?! Don’t tell me she’s trying to help you win...”

Suddenly, Tweek grabs onto Craig’s arm, his eyebrows furrowing with worry.

“No… She can’t…!”

“I’m gonna stop you right there,” said Craig as he takes the hand holding his arm. “First of all, I’m gay. Second of all, the only one I love is you.”

Tweek relaxed after hearing that, but he kept his hand in Craig’s. He liked the reassurance it gave him.

“Third of all, she stated, ‘You two are doing the most in this game. It would be a shame for you to die like this’, in those exact words. I thought of it like a bonus for keeping the game entertaining for her.”

“By the sound of that, it’s likely that the other users are still in hiding,” Wendy guessed, pulling out her notebook and pen. “And it also seems like she seems to favor you two.”

“I don’t know if this information helps, but I think she said she helped only me and not the both of us because you were already sending by an ambulance.”

Tweek noted this as suspicious, but Wendy was already a step ahead of him.

“The Fifth became a potential case once he broke into your house, so this here…” She held up her phone, but it remains locked. “...filled out the details of his crime, up until his death by yours truly. I sent an ambulance and gave an explanation to Poison Control so you wouldn’t die. It’s good that I did too, because there’s a chance that Heidi Turner wouldn’t have saved you just to make Tucker suffer.”

He still didn’t trust Wendy, but she had a good point. Entertainment seemed to be all Heidi cared about, so him dying slowly and Craig losing all hope would surely have been a great show for someone as heartless as her. 

_ But why would she save Craig specifically? Why Craig? _

Craig pushed Tweek back down onto his bed gently when he noticed that Tweek had started tugging on his hospital gown.

“Don’t stress yourself out, babe. It’s like you said, she’s just doing whatever she wants. We won’t let our guard down, but for now, you need to relax. I’ll call Token to drive us back to your place, alright?”

Tweek released his grip on his gown, but he stayed silent.

“I had the window fixed and removed the locks on all the doors and windows,” Craig adds. “I cleaned a bit, too. You’ll be coming home to a  _ mostly _ clean house.”

“Mostly?” Tweek asks.

“I may have left a few dishes in the sink…” Craig confesses.

“Alright, it looks like I’ve got to get going,” Wendy interrupts. “Tucker, if you would be so kind.” 

She holds out an empty hand, which Craig places Ike’s phone inside of. Though it was able to still turn on, the screen was almost completely shattered, making it difficult for Wendy to read anything written in the diary.

“Surprised this thing can still turn on,” Wendy pointed out, running her finger over the cracks before pocketing the phone. “It’ll definitely be a challenge, but I should be able to get some information out of this thing. Anyway, thanks for your help!” 

“So what’s the story going to be?” Tweek asked as Wendy left the room.

“Story?” Craig wonders.

“You know, when Token shows up. He might ask what happened to me.”

Craig thinks for a moment, pressing on his lip with his finger. Token was the only one in the group with a car, and compared to Clyde, Token asked less questions. Then again, they all considered him to be the “mom” friend, so he would definitely probe when it comes to something serious like Tweek being hospitalized.

* * *

**10/18/2018 09:33 AM [Hell’s Pass Hospital, Outside]**

“So…” Token began, staring at the couple. “This is the first time I’ve seen you guys since we went to Funland, and we reunite at a hospital. What’s that about?”

Craig looks to Tweek and nods. Tweek understood the signal, and the two of them hurried into the back seats of Token’s car without a word. Token sighs and shakes his head, then hops into the driver’s seat.

“I can tell you guys are involved in something crazy, and it’s fine if you don’t want to get me involved, but at least tell me why you were hospitalized,” Token tried to compromise as he drove them back to Tweek’s house.

“Tweek was poisoned,” Craig admits. “That’s it.”

“My mother is a chemist, you know,” Token reminds them. “I could’ve brought her to you guys.”

“She’d ask too many questions,” Tweek replied, glancing at Craig to make sure he was following the story properly. “It’s really not that big of a deal, anyway. I’m fine now.”

Token didn’t ask anything else, which relieved the couple. Instead, he changed the subject.

“The guys and I miss hanging out with you two,” he confesses. “It’s been weeks, and I guarantee you that the person blowing up my notifications right now is Clyde asking if you’re free. I told him I was giving you guys a ride home before coming. Didn’t say from where.”

“Thanks for that,” says Craig. “But right now, Tweek and I are house-sitting for his relatives. They won’t be back until the 20th, and we have to stay there until then.”

He hummed understandingly, but Token was still a little disappointed. Tweek leaned forward to pat him on the shoulder, flashing a smile at him through the rear view mirror.

“We’ll be free to hang out after that,” Tweek assures.

Once they reached their destination, Token stopped them briefly before they exited the car.

“By the way, school starts up again on the 28th. I don’t know if you know this, but you’ll get mail saying whether you’ll be going to South Park High or that other school that opened up a few years ago. Columbus High, I think.”

“Why Columbus?” Tweek asks.

“Only part of the school has been repaired, so they’re having some students transfer to Columbus,” Token explained, pulling up a screenshot of the letter he had received. “Says here that I’ll be returning to SP. Let me know what you guys find out.”

They waved goodbye, then Token drove off, leaving the couple to scramble to the Tucker mailbox. Tweek sped past Craig, nearly pushing him back just to reach it first. Using his own copy of the mailbox key, he unlocked the box and dug through several unclaimed letters, handing Craig bills and other junk mail to hold.

“Got it!” Tweek announced, pulling out two letters with his and Craig’s name on it.

“Seriously, babe, calm down,” Craig smiles. “You just got out of the hospital.”

“I’m just really excited… and anxious,” Tweek explained, tearing the end off of the letter addressed to him. “I just really have to know if we’ll be going to the same school.”

Craig stays quiet as he watches Tweek read both of the letters. The lack of worry in Tweek’s eyes is relieving to Craig, but there was also a lack of excitement. He tries to peek at the letters, but Tweek moves away, holding the backs of the papers toward him.

“I’m going to Columbus,” Tweek said, the absence of emotion on his face making it difficult for Craig to determine whether this news was good or bad.

“Where am I going?”

“...Columbus,” Tweek confessed, breaking out of his poker face and smiling widely.

He walked over to wrap his arms around Craig’s neck, squishing the mail in between their chests as he pulled him down for a kiss.

 

* * *

**10/28/2018 12:03 AM [Tucker Residence, Craig’s Room]**

As the two lied in bed, Craig played with his phone while Tweek stared at the ceiling. Tweek, who was looking forward to starting school in a place where much less people knew about his involvement in the bombing incident, beamed up at the ceiling. He couldn’t sleep because of it.

That, and because today was a special day for him and Craig.

“You know what I just realized?” said Craig, placing his phone on the table.

“That because it’s midnight, our anniversary is today?” Tweek answers.

He faced Craig’s profile with half lidded eyes and slightly parted lips, tracing a line with his fingers from his chest to his torso and back again. He then began humming contently in Craig’s ear, sending shivers down the boy’s spine as Tweek’s breath warmed his face.

“I take it you made plans for this day, huh? You’re acting suspicious,” Craig noted, grabbing the hand Tweek was stroking him with. He could hear his message tone go off a few times, but there are much more pressing matters at the moment. The group chat can wait.

“What’s suspicious? Me touching you? Do you not want me to touch you anymore?”

“You damn well know I want you to touch me, but I know you won’t.”

How could Craig forget their little shower incident weeks ago? They haven’t been intimate ever since the battle with the Fifth, so even if Tweek were to get back at him through tortuous sexual buildup, it’s not like Craig was going to stop him. In fact, Tweek’s breathing and his fingers running up and down were making him tent, and there’s no way that Tweek didn’t notice it.

“You think I’m just going to tease you?” Tweek questioned sweetly, pulling his hand away from Craig’s to trace a line from his balls to his tip on the outside of his boxers. 

“I’m gonna make you suck this dick if you don’t stop touching me like that.”

“Oh no! Anything but that!” Tweek begged sarcastically, pawing at Craig’s bulge.

Being in a relationship since they were ten gave them the opportunity to experience the more intimate side of a romantic relationship at the same time, but at thirteen, Craig assumed Tweek would be too shy for anything past kissing.

Boy, was he wrong. Tweek had suggested and initiated almost every sexual activity they’ve done so far, and he also happened to be fond of role play. Sometimes he would act shy, other times sultry, and other times hard to get. Craig could tell what he wanted just by his actions. He didn’t need the diary to tell him that Tweek wanted to be played with. What kind of boyfriend of eight years would he be if he didn’t know how to read Tweek by this point?

Both of them loved to tease each other, and Tweek was no exception. Running his fingers on top of Craig’s boxers to play with the erect shaft underneath, he began to lick and nibble on his lover’s ear, finding amusement in his breathy moans. He moved painfully slow, his fingers ghosting over Craig’s tip as he giggled in his ear. He was determined to pay him back for that shower incident.

“Touch me already,” Craig complained, reaching over to grab Tweek’s hand. 

Tweek swatted it away, biting down on his earlobe at the same time. Though his eyes were closed, Craig could feel Tweek grinning by his ear.

“Let me work,” Tweek ordered, pumping the shaft for only a few seconds before leaving it to draw circles on Craig’s chest.

Craig leaned back and faced his punishment, using their anniversary as a reason not to fight back and allow Tweek to do as he pleased. He still enjoyed the feeling of Tweek’s fingers running along his skin, so it wasn’t entirely punishment.

Tweek crawled over Craig and hopped out of bed, his feet landing on the carpet as if walking on air. When Craig curiously sat up, Tweek gestured for him to come closer and face him with a beckoning hand. Once Craig’s legs hung off the side of the bed, Tweek kneeled onto the carpet and tugged the front of his boxers down, watching his eager cock pop out. He looked up at Craig, his smiling face flushed with desire as he licked his cock from base to tip, swirling his tongue and dipping it into the slit.

The fevered blond’s arousal had his mind racing with vivid images of himself pinning the wrists of his hopefully willing boyfriend onto the bed and riding him, bouncing up and down on Craig’s dick without much of a warning. While he filled his mouth with cock, his fingers wandered over to the elastic of his own pajama pants, hesitating before slipping inside.

“Wait,” Craig said, pushing Tweek off of him. “I have something for that.”

Tweek’s surprise returned to his initial lustful daze as he watched Craig rummage for who-knows-what in his drawer. His eyes wandered around Craig’s body, admiring the lean muscle on his arms and torso, taking in that sharp, sexy jaw, drooling over the thick, long cock coated in his own saliva, glancing briefly at dirty blond hair by the open window…

_ Blond hair? _

A bottle of lube fell to the floor when Craig slid off the bed to cover the mouth of the suddenly screaming and pointing Tweek. He turned to the source of his boyfriend’s distress and immediately tossed the bottle at Kenny, who stretched his arm past the window to catch it.

“You know, if you found this faster...” Kenny started, waving the bottle in the air. “He wouldn’t have noticed me, and you guys would’ve had some  _ goooood _ fun.”

“For fucks sake, McCormick, why are you watching us?!” Craig hissed, pushing his cock into his boxers before Kenny could comment on it.

“Clyde and I had something really important to tell you, but we seemed to have interrupted something. Sorry,” Kenny half-heartedly apologized, tossing the bottle onto the bed. “If it makes you feel any better…” He glanced at Craig’s bulge, then turned to Tweek with a wink. “...you’re a lucky dude, blondie.”

“Jesus, Ken, stop messing around! You’re crushing my shoulders!” Clyde called out from below, his knees buckling under Kenny’s weight.

Embarrased and frustrated, the red faced Tweek tugged the blankets down, hid Craig’s boxers under them, then marched to the window with his fists in front of him.

“Hold on!” Kenny pleaded, holding his hands up in surrender. “We really did have something important to tell you! We found out where Clyde’s dad is hiding!”

Craig tossed off the blanket and stood to grab Tweek’s arm. “Tweek, help me pull them up,” he instructs.

Though reluctant to kill his boner by helping Kenny and Clyde inside, Tweek did what he was told, grabbing onto Kenny’s wrists while Craig held onto his waist. While Kenny was fairly light, the chubby brunette hanging onto his ankles wasn’t, so the couple struggled to maintain their footing as they stepped back.

A minute later, two uninvited guests lied on the floor of Craig’s bedroom, gasping for air. Clyde crawled over to Craig, placing his hands on his shoulders. Before he spoke, he hung his head down, still trying to catch his breath.

“We…  _ hah _ … we found out that he’s hiding out in the woods…” Clyde claims in between breaths. “Can you come with us tomorrow after school to find him?”

“I know this is important to you, but you have really bad timing. Also, did you really have to come here with this fucking asshole?” Craig questioned, pointing to Kenny with his thumb.

Kenny gave a toothy grin and thumbs up at Clyde while Tweek glared at both of them, clearly still upset about their interruption.

“I’ll explain everything, just…” Clyde pauses. He glanced at Tweek from the corner of his eye, overwhelmed with regret as Tweek’s stare bore into him. Leaning close to Craig’s ear, he whispers, “Please do something about him.”

Craig waves Tweek over as Clyde crawls toward Kenny, making sure to avoid eye contact with the possibly vengeful blond. Once he was at a safe distance, Clyde began his story.

* * *

**10/27/2018 11:33 PM [Stark’s Pond, North Side]**

A noisy and dramatic sigh escaped Clyde’s lips, attracting the attention of the only other person in the area at this time: Kenny McCormick. He approached the bench Clyde sat on from behind and poked his head into his field of vision, effectively scaring Clyde into scooting to the side just to see who had disturbed his moment of distress.

“Why the long face, buddy?” said Kenny, hopping over the bench to take a seat. “Sad that school starts tomorrow?”

“Jesus fucking Christ, dude! Gotta go and scare the living shit out of me!” Clyde cried out, holding a hand in front of the heart that was trying to escape his chest.

“Okay, I’m sorry. I really am,” Kenny apologizes. “People only come to this part of Stark’s Pond to contemplate or mope, so I was just trying to cheer you up.” He scooted closer to Clyde and pat him on the shoulder. “You doing alright, dude?”

Clyde brought his knees to his chest and stared ahead, his chin resting on his kneecaps. Of course there was something suspicious about a teenage boy sitting alone in front of a boating lake, so Kenny’s approach was warranted.

“You’ve heard the rumors, right? About how some guy started living in the woods sometime after the school bombing, and if you try to approach the house, you’ll get killed?”

“The killings started recently, I think,” Kenny added, leaning back on the bench with a finger pressing on his lip. “It’s been going on for about a week, maybe. The police doesn’t seem to be doing anything, like usual. Why do you bring this up?”

Kenny might always be snooping around in other people’s business, but he wasn’t a gossip. He just enjoyed people-watching, and while some people would call it eavesdropping, he was always hanging around in plain sight, so they could always just tell him to leave. That’s what Kenny justified it as, anyway. Because he was so observant, he was always treated as an advice column or information broker by just about everyone: students, adults, even the occasional police officers.

Believing Kenny to be trustworthy, Clyde leaned close to him and spoke in a low voice. “I haven’t seen for myself yet, but I think that may be my dad. He disappeared a little before the ‘man in the woods’ rumor started, and I haven’t heard from him since. He won’t even return any of my calls or texts.” He returns to his spot and leans forward, propping himself with his elbows on his thighs. “I want to see for myself, but I don’t want to get killed. What if there really isn’t a man living in the woods?”

The entrance to the woods Clyde spoke of was only a few feet away from where they were sitting, which Kenny turned to face. “I don’t know if it’s your dad, but there’s definitely someone living in the woods,” he confirms.

Clyde’s eyes widen with interest, so Kenny continues.

“I checked it out a little while ago. Large, one story log cabin just randomly in the woods. Reminded me of a Minecraft house.”

“Fucking Minecraft, man,” Clyde laughed, relaxing into his seat. “I used to build mine in the villages so I could have easy access to their food and water supply.”

“But if you’re killing people, you don’t want your house to be out in the open,” Kenny advises. “Probably why the guy’s living in the woods.”

“You don’t think… my dad is the one killing people, do you?”

“I wanna reassure you, but I honestly don’t know. Want to come with me to see for yourself?”

“No way dude! We’ll get killed!” Clyde cried out, grabbing ahold of Kenny’s shoulders. “What if he’s just trying to protect his home from intruders?”

“I’m sure he won’t kill you if he really is your dad. Besides, you want to find him, don’t you?”

“I do, but…” Clyde sank into his seat, groaning loudly. As much as he wants to reunite with his dad, he doesn’t know if his dad feels the same way. He doesn’t even know why his dad ran off to begin with. “If it does turn out to be him, what would I even say? He just  _ left _ me, you know?”

Kenny pauses for a moment to think, then hops to his feet, holding his phone in front of Clyde’s face. “Stay on the line with me, and I’ll go in myself,” he says. “I’ll keep you updated on what I see.”

“Dude, are you fucking crazy?! What am I going to tell the guys if they found out that I just let you run off and get killed?!”

“I wanna help you, dude,” Kenny claims, walking backwards into the woods. “If you don’t want to see your dad again, then stop me.”

Burdened with indecisiveness, Clyde switches between keeping his eyes on Kenny versus his phone. He doesn’t want Kenny to risk himself, but his feet don’t seem to want to cooperate.

Kenny, phone, feet, exit. He’s conflicted, but he raises his phone to his face. He soon finds himself in his contact list with his finger hovering over the phone symbol by Kenny’s name. Finally, he presses the button and holds the phone to his ear, prompting Kenny to give him a wave with his phone in hand before stepping into the woods.

Not even a second passed before Kenny jogged back over, which he continued to do in place as he spoke. “By the way, do you have anything to eat? I’m starving.”

“Yeah, I have a couple pieces of jerky left,” Clyde said, pulling a rolled up bag of beef jerky out of his jacket  pocket. “There’s probably like… five or six in there.”

“Oh, that’s perfect. Thanks!” Kenny grins as he jogged backwards into the woods.

* * *

**10/27/2018 11:48 PM [South Park Woods, South Side]**

For the past ten minutes, Clyde had asked “what’s happening” after every few steps Kenny took. He understood Clyde’s concern, but he was beginning to regret this idea from how annoying Clyde was being. Even when Clyde was silent, Kenny could still hear that voice echoing in his head. 

Once again, Clyde followed up with his favorite question. “What’s happening now? Hey Kenny, do you see anything yet?”

_ Shut the fuck up, Clyde,  _ is what Kenny wanted to say, but he kept his cool. “I’m almost there,” he explained, which wasn’t exactly a lie. The cabin would be in sight in just a few more steps.

When he arrived, he slowed his pace, careful not to step on any crunchy leaves. “I’m here,” he whispers into the phone. “I have to stay quiet so he won’t hear me, though.”

Clyde whispered “okay” while Kenny hid behind a tree and opened up his camera, zooming in on the window. The owner of the cabin was nowhere to be seen, so he took a pebble and tossed it at the front door. Looking back at the window, Kenny could see someone pulling back a curtain, but the clarity of his camera, once zoomed in, was too poor to properly identify them. He saw what appeared to be a glare by his face, which he assumed were glasses, and a phone’s speaker by his mouth.

As soon as Kenny snapped the photo, several guard dogs exited from the back of the cabin and charged straight for him. Dumping out the contents of the bag into his hand, he threw a handful of jerky towards the cabin, effectively stalling the group to make his escape.

“Dude, what’s happening?!” Clyde panics, unable to see what could possibly be going on where Kenny is. 

Kenny is tempted to hang up on Clyde, but he doesn’t want him to start looking for him out of concern. He doesn’t want him to start running away in the wrong direction either, so he keeps the phone by his ear to make sure Clyde doesn’t wandering off.

The gradually increasing sound of several feet stomping on leaves alerted Clyde to stand from his seat and look towards the source. He can see Kenny’s silhouette drawing near, the crunching of the leaves growing louder. He can’t tell who Kenny was running from, but the fact that Kenny was running was enough of a signal to run as well.

Before Clyde could make the first step, Kenny leaped over the bench, grabbed Clyde’s wrist, then led him back into the town. The dogs stopped where the trees became sparse, but the two stayed on their toes, up until they reached Clyde’s house. Kenny began leading him to the front door, but Clyde tugged on his arm, his soles sliding as he tried to plant his feet firmly on the concrete.

Kenny turned to the woods to confirm that they weren’t being followed anymore before speaking. “What’s wrong?” he asked, noting the uneasiness in Clyde’s eyes as the two release their grip on each other.

Clyde doesn’t answer right away. He glances down at his phone and ends the call between him and Kenny, revealing four texts from Token underneath.

**Token** : I was looking for you earlier. I found that shirt you were looking for. Did you go somewhere?   
**Token** : Dude, what’s going on? You’ve been gone for two hours now. Are you alright?   
**Token** : I texted the guys, and none of them have seen you. Seriously, what’s going on?   
**Token** : You’re worrying me, man. You’re not out by yourself, are you? Crazy stuff has been happening for a while, so please be careful.

“I remember him texting me about that,” Kenny noted, wrapping his arm around Clyde’s shoulders. “So when did you guys hook up, huh?” 

“We’re not together,” Clyde huffs. “I’m just staying at his place until my dad comes back, but he’s been worried about me ever since it happened.”

“So he has no idea that you left the house to look for your dad, huh?”

“He would’ve stopped me, saying I’d get into trouble or something. He’s being too paranoid.”

“Dude, you tried to stop  _ me _ from helping you look for him for the same reason,” Kenny points out. “I think you understand exactly why he’s concerned.”

“I know,” Clyde sighed, re-reading the messages. “I just thought that… well, since he left right after the school thing, maybe he’d come back once school started back up again. I don’t know.”

Kenny pulled up the photo he had taken earlier and held it in front of Clyde’s face. “Shit photo, sorry, but does this person look familiar to you?”

Clyde took the phone from Kenny’s hands and observed the photo closely. Round face, large nose, square glasses. Even the cell phone case was familiar. There was no doubt about it. This was definitely his father.

“That’s him…”

He hands the phone back to Kenny, sighing again. Kenny stares at the photo as well, then grabs onto the wrist of the troubled Clyde once more.

“I think I know how we can get to him, but we’ll need some help,” Kenny explains.

“I don’t want to call the cops on him,” Clyde worriedly claims. “I want to talk to him first. There must be a good reason why he’s been… doing what he’s been doing.”

“We’re not getting the cops involved,” says Kenny. “There are two people I know who would understand your dad’s situation pretty well.”

* * *

**10/28/2018 12:12 AM [Tucker Residence, Craig’s Room]**

“And that’s what happened,” Clyde explains. “So Kenny says you guys would know how to help. Can you?”

The couple exchanged a look, Craig nodding for confirmation while Tweek bit his lip. The two turned to Clyde and Kenny, then back at each other, silently communicating with hand waving, pointing with heads, shaking of heads, and the occasional diary check.

They finally reached a conclusion, which resulted in Craig sliding his open diary across the carpet to Clyde, who curiously picked it up.

“12:06, Kenny and Clyde are at my window. Tweek and I aren’t happy. 12:10, Clyde explains what happened with Kenny and his dad. 12:16, Tweek complains about Kenny watching us and refuses to do anything else.” With a raised brow, Clyde’s head slowly turns towards Kenny, who’s pumping his fist in front of his open mouth. He can see Craig try to hold Tweek back from the corner of his eye. “Kenny’s voyeurism problem aside, what’s this about? When did you write these?”

“I stopped writing them about a month ago. They just appear on their own. If you haven’t noticed, they’re entries about what will happen in the future,” Craig admits. “Now give it back.”

Clyde slides the phone back to Craig. “Does Tweek’s phone do that too? Do you guys have the same stuff written in there?”

“One example is fine,” Tweek blushed, sliding his phone under his thigh. “The point is, I’m pretty sure Kenny took you here because he thinks this a battle between diary users.”

“Whoa, I don’t want you to fight my dad! I just want you to… uh…”

Clyde looks to Kenny for answers.

“You guys have phones that can see into the future. We just want you to come with us to make sure we don’t run into those dogs again. You know, make sure the path we’re taking won’t get us killed.”

“Dude, how did that happen?” Clyde asks, eyes sparkling. “I want my phone to do that too!”

“Kenny can explain the rest to you later,” Craig yawned, waving a dismissive hand. “Now go home. I’m tired.”

As the boys said their goodbyes, plus a wink from Kenny, Tweek picked up the bedsheets and lied them out properly. He sat on the mattress, but before he could push his legs under the covers, Craig placed a hand on his shoulder. His eyes were met with Craig’s boxers, and upon looking up, he could see Craig bend down for a kiss.

“I’m not in the mood,” Tweek grumbled, placing his hand over Craig’s lips. He pushed himself to the far end of the bed and lied down, facing away from Craig.

Not easily discouraged, Craig climbed onto the bed and kissed the top of Tweek’s head before going to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The boys got some new allies in this chapter, and what will happen to them is a surprise. Not much action in this chapter, but you know it's coming up very soon. I've got group projects and jobs galore, so I won't update for a while, but I hope you'll look forward to the next update!
> 
> And as always, I hope you enjoyed!


	9. Hinderance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This will run a little long because I am doing my best to not leave out any information about the characters. That means backstories and character development galore! Please enjoy!
> 
> Another note: So you guys don't have to keep flipping through chapters, the timestamps involving flashbacks take place after the amusement park (chapter 3) and before the Professor Chaos arc (chapters 4-5).

**10/09/2018 11:13 AM [Donovan Residence, Clyde’s Room]**

Clyde stretched his arms over his head and yawned. He enjoyed being able to wake up in the middle of the day. It was like a never ending weekend. Sure, he was still mildly traumatized by the school being blown up, but spending time at the amusement park helped take his mind off of it.

He missed hanging out with Craig, however. Even though he didn’t know what he and Tweek did to get targeted by such a dangerous woman, there was no doubt that he was still in danger. Tweek had been keeping a sharp eye on Craig to the point that he tried to keep Craig at home as much as possible. The only time they left was to pick up groceries, and from the way Tweek clung to Craig’s arm and observed their surroundings, there was too little of a chance to get them to hang out with him.

It’s not that he didn’t like Tweek, but he wasn’t too happy with Tweek keeping his best friend away from him, even for a good reason. He found it difficult to come over without having every one of his movements watched, so he just avoided the two altogether until school started up again. Texting was fine, which is how he knew they were both okay, but he still missed seeing them in person.

He hopped out of bed to prepare breakfast. When he reached the fridge, he noticed a lack of eggs. There was cereal in the pantry, so he settled for that, but not before he whined to his dad about the eggs. He searched for more foods that they needed, made a list, then knocked on his dad’s door.

“Hey Dad, we need groceries,” he called out from the other side of the door. “Can you give me some money to go shopping?”

No response from the other side. He opened the door to a dark room and turned on the lights. Empty. The bathroom door was wide open, so he wasn’t in there. He was supposed to have someone else watch the store today, so where was he?

Before he could text his dad about his whereabouts, he found a yellow sticky note on a notebook lying on his desk. He peeled it off of the notebook and read the message written on it.

“I’m leaving for a while. I don’t know for how long, but please don’t look for me. I left $500 on the counter. If I’m not back in three months, call the police.”

“Three _months?!_ ”

His first choice of emergency contact was Token. It’s not that he had planned to deal with his father leaving out of the blue ahead of time, but if he had to room with someone, it would definitely be Token. Not because of his nice house. Of course not. He wasn’t _that_ shallow.

Really, he just believed Token to be the best person to turn to for this situation. Jimmy’s parents were still resentful of him for when he injured Jimmy in a reckless shopping cart race last year, so he didn’t want to face their distrustful stares if he asked to stay with them. Craig’s mother was raising three kids on her own, so it would be rude to impose on her like that. Therefore, the only person left was Token.

He dialed Token’s number and paced around the house, eventually walking to the pantry to prepare some Reese’s Puffs cereal.

“Hello? Something wrong, man?” Token asked, curious as to why Clyde had called instead of texted.

Clyde had already begun eating once Token answered the phone. “Dude…” _Crunch, crunch_ . “My dad just disappeared, man!” _Crunch, crunch, crunch._ “Like, he left me a note telling me not to look for him.” _Crunch crunch._

“Can you stop eating so I can understand you?” Token sighed.

“Shit, sorry. Anyway, dude! What the fuck? What do I do? He just left me $500 and then disappeared! Like... what the fuck?”

“Alright, calm down, man. Why don’t you come over here and we’ll talk about it, alright?”

“Alright. I’ll head over once I finish my cereal.”

Clyde hung up the phone with a heavy sigh. The impact of his father’s disappearance finally hit him, causing his tears to fall all at once. Not even money or the thought of possibly getting to stay at Token’s house could change the fact that his father had decided to leave him without even saying goodbye.

He read the note again to make sure of this. Nowhere did it say “goodbye” or “I’m sorry” or even why he left in the first place. Was he that horrible of a son for him to just leave? Or maybe his life was in danger, and he didn’t want his son to get involved?

Either way, it hurt to be left out of the loop, especially when his closest friends seemed to be doing the same thing.

* * *

**10/08/2018 10:43 PM [South Park Woods, South Side]**

No one would think to search for someone in the woods. That’s what Roger Donovan believed, and it’s not like he went unprepared. The shelves were stacked to the brim with packaged food and bottled water, and two weapons, a glock and a rifle, lied on a table. The cabin he chose to hide in had been abandoned due to its connection with a murder case years ago, so many people believed it to be haunted, but when you’re hiding from the public, you can’t be picky.

He deeply regretted leaving Clyde without saying goodbye, and he wouldn’t be surprised if Clyde resented him for it, but the fear of experiencing what happened at his school struck enough fear and paranoia into him to force him into hiding. On top of that, a number of suspicious people have been wandering around in search for someone Professor Chaos wanted.

_Searching for diary users, no doubt._

Still, that was no reason to leave Clyde on his own. The boy didn’t even have a mother to look after him. He just hoped that the police wouldn’t come searching for him when they have the Professor Chaos case to worry about.

An animal whined and scratched at the door. Roger peeked through the curtains to catch a glimpse of a familiar medium sized dog. He opened the door a crack to see that the dog had sat down in front of him with a smile.

“Rex?” he whispered, still hiding behind the door. “Is that you?”

It had been almost ten years since Clyde had lost Rex, and it showed. What was once a friendly and youthful dog had become much more worn out and tired. He expected Rex’s grey fur to be matted and caked with mud, but that wasn’t the case. Aside from a bit of dirt, his fur was neatly trimmed. It was as if someone was taking care of him up until this point, yet there was no collar on him.

Rex happily barked in response as he sat patiently, waiting to be let inside. Though hesitant, Roger opened the door enough for Rex to wiggle himself in, but then he heard footsteps approaching. He waved Rex over and shut the door, then peeked through the curtains again to see who had come.

Three dogs stood a short distance from the cabin. He suspected they were here for Rex, who stood in front of the door. Rex turned to him, then faced the door again, signaling to be let outside. Fearing they might become angry and barge into the cabin, Roger tore up a piece of jerky into three pieces, opened the window, and tossed one to each dog. Without staying to see how the dogs reacted, he shut the window and turned to Rex, who had sat patiently in front of him again.

“Wonder if you can become a guard dog,” he said. “Or maybe I can teach you to gather food?”

He held out his hand. Rex licked it twice, then rested his chin on it. Smiling, Roger knelt down and stroked the fur on Rex’s back.

“You might be too nice to be a guard dog.”

* * *

**10/09/2018 08:23 AM [South Park Woods, South Side]**

As Roger let Rex out for the morning, he saw that the dogs brought friends. Roughly ten of them were all sitting outside of the cabin, and they all reacted to Rex heading their way. They all seemed to be on friendly terms, using friendly barks and nuzzles to communicate with Rex. Rex seemed to be explaining to them that Roger was a good person, so they sat in front of him with wagging tails and wide smiles.

Roger looked around, trying to see where they could’ve come from. None of them had collars, and the only other building close to this area was Mephesto’s lab. He began to wonder if these were lab dogs that have escaped and were now looking for shelter.

Then again, lab dogs were usually chipped, weren’t they? Would Mephesto or his workers come and take them back? Would having them nearby compromise his hiding place? Roger considered throwing a bag of jerky as far as he could into the woods, but it’s likely that they would come back. The fact they were here to begin with might’ve been because he fed the first three dogs.

Just as he suspected, a few pairs of footsteps neared. Roger took Rex, hid back inside the cabin, then grabbed his rifle. He opened the window slightly to keep an eye on who was approaching. Four people in lab coats came into view, and Roger’s first reaction was to shoot. This seemed to startle the dogs, but then they all followed suit and began attacking the researchers.

Either these dogs had it in their genes to be territorial, or they were enhanced with speed and strength while in the lab. It was clear that these dogs were perfectly capable of taking care of themselves, and having them on his side would be the perfect way to protect himself.

Watching the dogs rip apart the researchers wasn’t fun, so Roger closed the window and the curtains until it was over. Once the barking and the screaming ceased, he peeked outside again. The sight of the mangled corpses was unpleasant. He had to bury them.

There was already a shovel in the cabin, no doubt that it was related to the murder case, so he grabbed it and peeked outside once again. Coast clear. He cautiously approached the dogs, who did nothing to threaten him, then began digging a hole to hide the bodies. The dogs seemed to know what he was trying to do, so many of them dug the hole for him, which he found impressive.

One by one, he pushed the severed limbs of the corpses into the hole, then piled the dirt on top of them. The dogs watched curiously, as if they were taking notes. When he finished, the dogs approached him, then sat in front of him with wagging tails. From his experience with Rex, he knew this was a sign to either feed them or pet them. He knelt down in front of one of the dogs and pat it on the back, which the dog enjoyed. He started petting the others, gaining their trust and loyalty in turn.

“How interesting,” said a voice.

Roger’s head snapped back to see who had spoken. Even the dogs were alerted, assuming a defensive stance with bared teeth and low growls. Before them was a young woman floating in the air, too high for the dogs to attack.

“Cool hiding place, Tenth,” Heidi grinned. “The other users will neeeeever find you here!”

Roger’s only weapon was the shovel and the dogs, but he knew of this woman’s power. He saw the news, and he definitely saw her at the Cathedral. This wasn’t a fight he could win, but he didn’t abandon his normal life to just buckle down and surrender.

“Throwing me into a game I never signed up for and destroying my son’s school… What is it that you want, huh?” he spat, keeping his voice from showing fear.

“Funny that you’re showing concern for your kid when you left him on his own. He’ll probably room with a friend, so you don’t have to worry too much, but still. Shitty father award.”

Roger bit his lip, but he kept his eyes on Heidi. Was she here to kill him? Would all of his efforts be put to waste?

“It’s people like you that keep the game interesting, especially with this turn of events.”

In a flash, Heidi frisked Roger’s phone out of his back pocket and held it in front of him. He eyed the dogs to attack, but they stayed in place, too frightened to move.

“There’s a lot of boring diaries in this competition, but yours really stands above the rest in terms of uselessness. Two entries: one good thing and one bad thing that happened in a day. How stupid is that? I’m not even going to ask what kind of silly internet self-care guide you got that from.”

She tossed the phone to him, which he struggled to catch, but he was able to secure it in his hands.

“I’m going to do you a little favor. You see, there are some players that I’m testing. I want to see how well they’ll fare when pitted against you, especially since they have some allies that will hinder them. Are you up for the challenge?”

“You’d probably make it so I couldn’t defy you anyway, so you might as well just name your game,” he huffed.

“These dogs are very loyal to you, it looks like. They’ve bonded with your buddy Rex, so when Rex chose you for shelter, they followed along, believing you to be a good person. See where I’m going with this?”

Roger looked at the group of dogs. They were still wary of Heidi, but they seemed to like him. He never thought that his guards would come to him willingly, especially in this kind of situation.

“You want me to use these dogs to hunt down the other users?”

“You don’t have to hunt them, necessarily,” Heidi explained. “They can stay and protect this place for all I care. I just like how brutal the killings are when done by an animal. My love would definitely approve.”

The god of time and space was clearly a monstrous figure, but it’s not like Roger could do anything about it. He looked down at the dogs again, then at Heidi.

“Anyway,” she continued. “I’m giving you a task: create a new diary about these dogs by tomorrow, and I’ll make a new future diary for you that will help you much more than that stupid thing ever did. Sound good?”

Roger raised a suspicious eyebrow. “Sounds like you guys don’t care much for rules,” he replied.

“There weren’t really any rules to begin with. We just want you to kill each other,” Heidi beamed. “So do we have a deal?”

She held out her hand. There were no other options Roger could come up with, so he took her hand with a regretful sigh.

“And a contract is formed. Thank you for playing, Tenth!”

 

* * *

**10/28/2018 07:30 AM [Tucker Residence, Kitchen]**

Unlike Craig, who still had trouble accepting the fact that he couldn’t wake up in the middle of the day anymore, Tweek had already adjusted to the change of pace and was already heading downstairs to make breakfast for everyone. What he didn’t expect was to see was Craig’s mother already in the kitchen.

She reacted to his shoes stepping onto the tile floor with a friendly “good morning, sweetie”, then returned to her pancakes. With how busy her schedule was, Laura always spent her off days sleeping in, which the kids never questioned. The woman was supporting three children after all.

Tweek saw her making breakfast at this time to be strange, since that was a job he had assigned to himself as repayment for allowing him to live with the Tuckers.

“I can handle breakfast, Ms. Tucker,” Tweek offered, picking up an empty bowl of pancake mix and taking it to the sink. “You should rest. You came home late last night, didn’t you?”

“No, you should be the one relaxing today. You’re starting your first day at a new school. Aren’t you nervous?”

“Yes, but I’ll be fine. Let me help you”

“Don’t worry about it, sweetheart. But if you insist, you can clean up for me.”

Tweek hummed in agreement and began washing the dishes. He glanced over in Laura’s direction, curious as to why she hadn’t questioned him and Craig about what happened to the school. Surely, she would’ve heard the gossip about Craig being captured and himself setting off mines to save him, right? So why hasn’t she said anything about it?

“By the way, Tweek…”

Good thing the bowl had a rubber bottom, because it slipped out of his hands and landed in the sink.

“Yes?!” he answered.

She set the pancakes on the table, then walked back to the stove to pour beaten eggs into the pan.

“Well… considering the circumstances, it seems a bit cruel for me to say this, but… I’m glad you chose to save my son.”

Tweek turned off the faucet to hear her better. None of the parents seemed to question the kinds of shenanigans their children always ended up in, so hearing genuine concern for near-death situations was rare. Especially for Tweek, whose parents only gave him a hug and left him be.

“He’s done so much for me,” he replied. “Really, I owe my life to him.”

“Don’t get into trouble yourself, though. I didn’t get a chance to properly show it, but I was very worried to hear about you being admitted into the hospital. To think someone would be so cruel to gas a building just to escape!”

Tweek wasn’t actually aware that this was the excuse Wendy came up with, but this was much better than his and Craig’s awkward “I don’t know” shrug. He was lucky to have been hiding out in his old house to prevent any further questions, but it was strange to think that his house was actually safe because Heidi cleared the gas. His relatives were still alive, so the house should be fine.

“Are you sure you’ll be alright to go to school today?” Laura asked as she slid the eggs off of the pan and onto the plate.

In terms of his health, he felt fine. He was breathing normally, and the headaches and nausea have completely subsided. Personally, Tweek would’ve preferred to stay home where he could keep an eye on Craig, but he was also looking forward to starting fresh at a new school.

“Yes, I’ll be fine,” he answered.

“That’s good to hear. Now could you be a dear and drag Craig downstairs?”

Out of habit, and a bad one at that, Tweek checked his phone to see what Craig was up to.

 **07:40 AM** **[Tucker Residence, Craig’s Room]** **  
** Craig fell back asleep. At least he changed his clothes.

Tweek chuckled softly and left to retrieve Craig.

* * *

**10/28/2018 08:32 AM [Columbus High, Courtyard]**

Like always, Tweek walked to school hand-in-hand with Craig. He glanced around at the students walking into the building. Many of them he didn’t recognize, but there were a few from South Park High that he had known since elementary. On his right, he could see Kevin Stoley talking with David Rodriguez. Chatting to his left were a couple of Raisin girls, though he heard they actually started working at Hooters recently. On the side of the school, he could see the goth kids walking, most likely to the back to smoke.

So far, no sign of any of his friends. He knew that Token, Clyde, and Jimmy ended up back in South Park High, but the whereabouts of Stan, Kyle, and Kenny were unknown. Upon entering, Lola, Jenny, and Nelly were giggling about something beside the lockers. Farther down the hall, Bradley Biggle was speaking to Esther, but she appeared displeased with him.

Tweek could see the Asian girls sitting on the staircase with their sketchbooks and art supplies strewn around. They greeted him happily, attracting hostile stares towards him from all of his high school classmates. He shrunk from their accusatory eyes, clinging to Craig’s arm as Craig led him into the bathroom to hide.

“Are you sure about this?” Craig asked, caressing Tweek’s cheek with his hand. “You don’t have to be here today. I heard that the principal is PC. He’ll let you take a mental health day or something.”

“No, I’ll be fine,” Tweek sighed, glancing back at the door. “I can’t avoid them forever, but it hurts to know they’re still angry with me.”

“You’re strong, honey,” Craig smiled. “It’ll take a lot more to take you down.”

Tweek took the hand off his face and held it in his, smiling.

“Thank you, Craig,” he said.

He looked around at the bathroom. This school was much nicer than South Park. The ceilings were taller, everything was cleaner, and the bathroom stalls looked as if they came from a hotel. Not overly fancy like a hotel, but the potted plants and hand sanitizer dispensers made it feel like one.

Tweek walked with Craig out of the bathroom to take a closer look at the school. The walls were covered with smooth, sand colored tiles, and the darker tiles spelled out “CHS” for Columbus High School. The lockers were coated with non-chipped red paint, giving them a glossy look. Even the floors looked neatly polished, despite all of the dirty, outside footprints of the students walking in. He wondered if they took the SoDoSoPa budget and used the entirety of it for this building and the janitor salaries.

“Surprised Token’s parents didn’t try and send him to this school,” Craig pointed out. “This is way nicer than South Park.”

“You’re right,” Tweek agreed.

He tried not to make eye contact with any of his old classmates by looking at the ground, but he could still hear their hushed gossiping.

“I’ll lead you to class, don’t worry,” Craig assured.

“I don’t want to have to rely on you all day,” Tweek sighed, slipping his hand out of Craig’s grip. “I’ll be fine.”

After a quick peck on Craig’s cheek, he gripped the straps of his backpack and paced to his first class. He was disappointed that he and Craig didn’t have many classes together, and he was uncomfortable from the harsh stares from his classmates, but all of that turned to outright irritation when he saw Kenny sitting in a desk in the middle of the room.

“Hey, man!” he greeted cheerfully, giving Tweek a small wave. “Ready for tonight’s mission?”

Tweek stared at him for a moment, then walked to the window seat in the back of the room. Once he had settled himself at his desk, Kenny gathered his belongings and plopped himself right beside Tweek.

“Look, we’re desk buddies!” Kenny grinned.

“You know I’m mad at you, right?” Tweek pointed out, eyes narrowed in annoyance. He returned his gaze back to his phone and texted Craig about Kenny.

“If I didn’t say sorry before, then I’ll say it again. I’m sorry,” Kenny apologized. “Really, I am. I didn’t mean to watch you… you know.”

He ended that sentence with a wink and an eyebrow wiggle. Tweek threw a chewed up mechanical pencil at him, which Kenny caught, claiming that he ran out of his own.

 **Tweek** : He won’t stop talking about last night! God, what did I do to end up in his class???  
**Craig** : sorry babe. I really don’t know what to say to help.  
**Craig** : tell him to go fuck himself idk. flip him off.

Kenny leaned over and tapped on Tweek’s desk.

“Seriously though, about tonight’s mission… I was thinking we meet right after school ends. Clyde’s over at South Park, and he wants to bring Token and Jimmy along. Think we should let them in on the whole situation?”

Tweek set aside his bitterness for now. He was concerned for Clyde, and having another user on the loose would be dangerous for him. His father had been linked to random murders, so he could always try and get Wendy to apprehend him. Surely, Clyde would appreciate that more than him being killed.

Now the question stands: how were they going to get to him without being mauled by dogs?

“If we bring Token and Jimmy, we’ll have a large group. Me, Craig, you, Clyde, Jimmy, and Token. Six people is a pretty big target, don’t you think?” Tweek pointed out.

“We can split up into groups,” Kenny suggested.

“Yeah, groups of two will work. Craig and I will go together, and you can choose your partner out of the others.”

“Two phone guys in one group while the rest of us fend for ourselves? Nah, man. You, me, Clyde, then Token, Jimmy, Craig.”

“You can’t separate me and Craig!” Tweek hissed. “Mine will only work when paired with his. That’s just how it works.”

“Seriously?” Kenny wondered, genuinely surprised. He began whispering as well, though everyone seemed to be absorbed in their own conversations anyway. “So if Craig’s can record random things that he sees, then what can yours do?”

Tweek locked his phone and turned it faced down on his desk, though that was nowhere near enough to stop Kenny. He sat back in his chair, looked over at the doorway, then said, “what are you doing here, Craig?”

Being the lovestruck and overprotective fool that he was, Tweek stood from his seat to get a better look at the door, so Kenny took that opportunity to snatch his phone away as swiftly and quietly as possible. He only had about three seconds before Tweek noticed his phone was missing. His parka was big enough to slip his arms out of the sleeves and pull the collar over his head, which he used to hide his face and the phone from Tweek.

“Hey, you can access it from the lock screen!” Kenny announced from under his parka, opening up an app with a simple book symbol in the middle.

Tweek tugged the hood of Kenny’s parka and pulled the entire thing off of him to grab his phone, but Kenny was hunched over, blocking Tweek’s hands from the phone.

“Dude, are you serious?” Kenny laughed, handing the phone back to Tweek. “That’s pretty adorable, not gonna lie.”

If it wasn’t for the stares the commotion attracted, Tweek would have hit Kenny for taking his phone. Instead, he shoved the phone back into his pocket and turned away from Kenny.

“I see your point now,” said Kenny. “But I think I have an idea. I’ll tell you when we all meet up, okay?”

Tweek was listening, but he continued to ignore him by not responding. He was also curious as to what Kenny came up with.

* * *

 

**10/28/2018 05:35 PM [South Park High, Courtyard]**

They had spent their short lunch period together, as well as two afternoon classes, but Tweek was just looking forward to spending the rest of the day with Craig… even though that meant that they were getting into yet another dangerous situation. If it weren’t for the fact that Clyde was a good friend of his that did help him out during the low points of his life, he would’ve kept his usual routine of sticking as close to Craig as possible by keeping him at home where it was safe.

If he was being honest, keeping Craig at home could still put them in danger by users who didn’t care if innocents, that being Tricia and Laura, were involved. But at the moment, he had no other options. He didn’t know of any secluded places where he and Craig could hide from other users, and he didn’t want to rely entirely on Wendy. If her plan to take down Heidi failed, he and Craig would have to face Wendy in the end, and she would’ve known too many of their weaknesses by then.

For now, the task at hand was to bring Clyde’s dad back home, which was Clyde’s idea. The six of them had created a group chat for each other to bounce ideas off of, though explaining the diaries over text was difficult. Token and Jimmy were currently catching up with everyone else by looking at Craig’s diary.

“A d-diary that records y-yo...your suh-surroundings. That’s p-p-pretty… pretty boring, Cra-Craig,” Jimmy mentioned, scrolling through the previous entries with amusement.

“You would do something like that,” said Token. “Nice and boring, huh?”

“It was for observation practice. You know, for film-making?” Craig huffed, taking the phone back from Jimmy. “And with this thing, I can see how this whole scenario will play out ahead of time. For example…”

 **05:40 PM [South Park Woods, Entrance]  
** We split off into groups. Kenny, Tweek, and Clyde enter the woods first.

 **05:52 PM [South Park Woods, Entrance]  
** Kenny and Tweek are running towards us. There are dogs following. Clyde isn’t with them.

“F-for example…” Jimmy repeated.

“Kenny, in this plan, we lose Clyde,” Craig explained.

“What?! Do I die in this plan?!” Clyde panicked, holding Kenny by the shoulders and shaking him. “Craig, do I die in this plan? What does it say?!”

“I don’t know,” Craig answered. “This diary will only tell me what I will see, so if I don’t go with you, then I don’t know what happens to you.”

“Maybe Tweek and Kenny were chased away, but the dogs take Clyde to his dad,” Token suggested. “Sounds possible, right?”

“S-so you’re saying we fuh… we follow the p-p-p-plan and l-let Clyde be taken a-away?” Jimmy guessed.

“But what if that doesn’t happen?!” Clyde cried, shaking Craig instead. “What if the dogs kill me instead?! Craig, dude, you have to come with me and Ken to make sure that doesn’t happen!”

“That’s not a bad idea,” said Token. “If Tweek stays with us, then we can still keep track of you guys through his diary. Just don’t lose Craig.”

“Let’s test it out,” said Kenny. “First, Craig, give the firecrackers and lighter to Tweek.”

Craig does as he was told. He pulls out a small, tight roll of Chinese firecrackers from his jacket pocket, along with his lighter, then places it in Tweek’s hands.

“Now Craig, Clyde, let’s start walking in,” Kenny instructed.

Clyde clung to Craig’s arm in fear as they walked into the woods, sparking some jealousy in Tweek. As soon as they began walking, the static sound emitted from the couple’s phones.

“Clyde, Craig, keep walking,” Kenny instructed. “Tweek, check your phone and text us if we need to come back. If you don’t respond, we’ll keep going.”

“One second,” said Tweek.

He glanced at Clyde, who treated Tweek’s look as a glare and released Craig. Tweek then gave Craig a quick kiss, gaining both adoration and rolled eyes from the group.

“Don’t die on me, Tucker,” he said, smiling over the stress. “Not on our anniversary.”

“I won’t. Promise,” Craig grinned, pulling Tweek in for another kiss.

“Guys,” Clyde interrupted. “Normally, I’d think this was cute, but I’m kind of having a crisis right now.”

The boys pulled away, embarrassed to have let themselves get caught in the moment, especially when Clyde’s crisis happened to _actually_ be a crisis this time. As Craig started to leave, Tweek pulled out his diary and read it in silence.

 **05:50 PM [South Park Woods, South Side]  
** Craig follows Clyde to his dad’s cabin. The dogs don’t attack him.

“Wh-what does it s-say?” Jimmy asked, peeking at the entry.

Tweek was beginning to understand this new plan. If Craig follows Clyde to the cabin, he can keep an eye on Clyde and see what’s going on. Question is, why aren’t the dogs attacking Clyde? Is it the will of his father?

“Run the plan by me again,” Tweek sighed, pressing a hand to his head. “This is so confusing…”

“Kenny’s the bait if the dogs come after them. He’s going to lead the dogs away from Clyde, so he can reach his dad,” Token explained.

“W-we’re here for extra food. Y-you know, fuh… for d-distractions. In case K-Ken runs out,” Jimmy added.

“Doesn’t seem like a three person job,” Tweek pointed out.

“We’re not g-gonna let Clyde do this on hi… his own,” said Jimmy. “He’s our f-friend too.”

“And I know that’s why he snuck out of the house last night,” Token mentioned. “He’ll just do it again, so might as well help him out this time.”

Those were reasonable answers, but Tweek couldn’t help but be terrified by Craig being separated from him. He knows how important this is to Clyde, but as a user, Craig was more in danger.

_That’s not it._

Tweek pinched the skin on the back of his hand, but the voices continued.

_You just care more about Craig than anyone else._

“Shut up…” he whispered.

Token and Jimmy gave him a questioning look.

“Sorry!” Tweek apologized. “Just mumbling about something dumb.”

 

* * *

**10/28/2018 05:48 PM [South Park Woods, South Side]**

Clyde, Craig, and Kenny stopped walking to listen carefully to their surroundings. Kenny kept a hand on the bag of dog treats in his pocket in the event that the dogs came too close. Clyde was no longer clinging to Craig, though he stood as close to him as possible.

“I can hear them…” Clyde whispered.

The boys stood with their backs to each other, awaiting the arrival of the dogs. For the time being, none were in sight, but they didn’t let their guards down.

“Diary says they won’t attack Clyde,” Craig notified the group with his phone in his hand. “As long as we stick to the plan, we should be able to--”

Clyde’s phone ringing cut off Craig’s speech. He and Kenny turned to him angrily, but the static sound emitted from Craig’s phone as well. Both Craig and Clyde checked their phones, and both were surprised about what they saw.

“My dad’s calling!” Clyde whispered before switching his phone to vibrate. “What do I do?”

“There’s been a change in the future. He knows you’re coming. Uh… says here that he’s going to ask you to come to his cabin. I think you should answer it!” Craig whispered back.

Clyde stared at the vibrating phone, hesitant. The dogs were finally in view, and they were slowly closing in on them.

“Answer it, dude!” Kenny hissed, pressing the answer button himself and pushing the phone to Clyde’s ear.

“Uh, hello? Dad?”

“Just when I told you not to look for me,” Roger sighed. “You’re putting yourself in danger, Clyde.”

“I’m sorry, Dad, I just… I just wanted to see you again…”

The dogs stood their ground, eyes locked on the group. Craig checked his phone again, but the entry was still the same. He could faintly hear Clyde’s phone conversation, but he was more focused on keeping an eye on the movements of the dogs. Without looking, he sent a text to Tweek, relying on autocorrect to make his message readable.

 **Craig** : stay where you are. don’t react to the diary change. everything is fine.

Clyde hung up the phone and stood straight, also keeping an eye on the dogs.

“Follow me, guys,” he whispered.

He began leading Kenny and Craig to the cabin while watching the dogs from the corner of his eye. They walked normally, as if he was their leader. He wondered how his dad was able to control these dogs to begin with, knowing that the only dog the two of them have ever raised was Rex.

* * *

**10/28/2018 05:55 PM [South Park Woods, Entrance]**

When they reached the cabin, Clyde nervously knocked on the door. Kenny gave him a reassuring pat on the back while Craig continued eyeing the dogs. Pulling out his phone would be dangerous at the moment, so he refrained from doing so, relying on the previous entries to keep him safe.

Roger opened the door just a crack, grabbed Clyde’s wrist, and pulled him inside, leaving Craig and Kenny waiting in front of the cabin. They both tried to stop the door from closing, but it was too late. They stood with their backs to the door, watching the dogs’ movements.

“I just need to speak with my son,” Roger called out from the other side. “Don’t move, and they won’t hurt you.”

“Dad, what’s going on? Why are you hiding out here?”

Clyde needed to make sure not to give away Craig’s identity as a user, but because of that, he hoped his dad wouldn’t ask anything that would lead to him confessing.

“I’m involved in a very dangerous game, and it seems that the only way to make this clear to you is to speak with you in person. I was an idiot for thinking that a note telling you not to look for me would stop you.”

“Dad, please come home. We can get the police involved. They’ll protect you.”

“They won’t protect me, Clyde. They’ll put me behind bars. I’ve used these dogs to _kill_ people.”

Clyde stepped back in shock. “Wha… How did… Why would you do that?”

“I’m in _danger_ , Clyde, you don’t understand!” Roger claimed, grabbing Clyde by the shoulders. “There are people out to get me. People who want to kill me to win a competition. Clyde, I’m so sorry that I left you alone these past few weeks, but I can’t go back home knowing that I could be killed at any moment.”

Roger hung his head low. “Please, Clyde… Please don’t resent me any further, but I have to get rid of the other users with these dogs. I know you’ve gotten involved with them. Please just send them away. I don’t want to have to hurt your friends.”

Clyde’s eyes widened. He pushed his dad’s hands off of him and stepped back again.

“Dad… You’re not gonna…”

“Your friends intend to kill me, Clyde. If not now, then they will soon. That’s how the game works. We _have_ to get rid of one another.”

“Dad, they won’t kill you! They’re trying to--”

The static sound rang through the air. With just a glance at his phone, Roger held it against his ear and began calling out orders.

“They’re coming! A group of three entering from the north side! Attack, now!”

A group of three could only mean one thing. Tweek sensed danger, so Token and Jimmy were following. Clyde had to do something.

“Dad, wait! Those are--”

Roger dragged Clyde by the wrist and pushed him into the bedroom, where Rex had been waiting.

“Rex, don’t let Clyde leave. Clyde, please don’t watch this.”

“Dad, no! You can’t do this! They’re not going to hurt you!”

He blocked off the door with a chair under the doorknob. “Two users are standing by the cabin. Don’t let them leave,” Roger ordered into the phone.

He stood by the window, watching as half of his dogs left to chase down Tweek and the others while the other half surrounded Kenny and Craig. He ignored Clyde’s muffled cries, hoping he would tire himself out soon. No father wants the reputation of killing their son’s friends, but his and his son’s safety was his priority.

From outside, Kenny tossed two biscuits over the dog’s heads. They turned to the biscuits, but then they turned back to the boys.

“His dad must’ve told them to ignore it,” said Craig. “And Tweek’s coming, so I don’t know what to do now. We might end up having to run all at once to get away from the cabin, then one or more of us will have to act as bait to lure the dogs away.”

* * *

**10/28/2018 05:58 PM [South Park Woods, Entrance]**

**06:00 PM [South Park Woods, South Side]  
** Clyde’s dad locked Craig out of the cabin! He’ll be eaten at this rate!

It has been eight minutes since the future has changed, but no word from Craig stating that he needs help. Craig specifically told him _not_ to react to the future change, but Tweek had spent the past few weeks playing the game by doing exactly that. He couldn’t help it. If Craig was in danger, naturally, he’ll react. He couldn’t just let Craig be in danger and not do anything about it!

“We need to save them!” said Tweek. “Help me think of a plan, quick!”

“Don’t think I didn’t see Craig’s text to you that said to _not_ do anything,” Token pointed out, tapping on Tweek’s screen, much to his annoyance. “He’ll text us if he needs us--”

“Rrrgh, I’ll save him myself!” Tweek retorted, running into the woods without a definite plan.

“W-wait, Tweek!” Jimmy called out, trying to catch up.

“Dude, don’t run off on your own!” said Token.

Tweek sprinted towards the scene with the roll of firecrackers in hand, blocking out the voices of his friends telling him to come back.

 _I’ll save Craig,_ he told himself. _I’ll save him, I’ll save him, I’ll save him!_

His phone’s silence was a good sign. He didn’t have time to constantly check it for changes. If he reached Craig quickly enough, he wouldn’t have to rely on his phone to tell him whether or not he was okay.

“Jesus, does he always do this?” Token pants, quickening his pace.

Jimmy only shrugs in response, as he’s not used to running.

Tweek’s eyes light up when he sees that his love is alright, but he returns to overprotective and reckless mode when he sees the dogs. He lights the firecrackers and throws them towards the dogs, causing them to scatter temporarily. With the limited time he had, he grabbed Craig’s hand and led him towards the entrance of the woods.

“Tweek, wait!” Craig pleaded, though he continued running. “Clyde is still back there!”

“Don’t worry! My diary says that he’ll come to your house tonight! His dad is protecting him, so we gotta get out of here!”

“He was telling Clyde that he needs to kill us before we kill him, remember?” Kenny explained. “Clyde’s safe in the cabin. His dad doesn’t intend to hurt him.”

“I’ll hold you to that, McCormick! If Clyde doesn’t return back safely, I’ll be the one to kill you!” Token threatened, glaring at Kenny. “You were the one to convince him and the rest of us to be a part of this plan!”

“G-guys, can we f-f-focus on es… on escaping? These p-pro-pro-prosthetics are for walking, n-not running!” said Jimmy, finding it difficult to keep up.

“Don’t worry! My car’s up ahead, so we just gotta get to it quickly!” said Token, pointing in the direction of his car.

The dogs barked as they neared closer, and their plan to distract them with snacks proved ineffective. The boys ran as quickly as possible until Token’s navy BMW came into view. He unlocked it, and each boy leaped into the car without so much of an attempt to buckle in their seatbelts.

“D-drive, pussy!” Jimmy shouted, watching the dogs from the rear view mirror.

“I’m not letting them scratch this car!” Token huffed, setting the lever to drive and stepping on the gas pedal. He sped through the streets until he hit city limits, where he began driving at the speed limit.

“Dude, there’s no time for speed limits!” said Tweek. “Drive faster!”

“Unless you plan on telling my parents why I got a speeding ticket, keep your mouth shut!” Token snapped, which surprised Tweek into shutting up.

“They’re not following us anymore,” Kenny announced. “I can’t see them.”

“Good,” Token sighed, relaxing into his seat. The car was silent for a while until Token spoke up again. “Sorry for snapping at you guys. Now, where to?”

* * *

**10/28/2018 06:01 PM [South Park Woods, South Side]**

Clyde hadn’t given up. He knew the door was blocked off, but he continued banging on it, despite Rex doing his best to stand in Clyde’s way without hurting him.

“Dad, please hear me out,” Clyde pleaded, tired from shouting so much. “I’ll figure something out. I won’t let them hurt you, so…”

“I think I know who she was talking about, now,” Roger sighed, sitting on the chair in front of the door. “About players with allies that will hinder them. She was talking about you and your friends.”

“Dad, I don’t understand what you’re talking about… Please, just let me out of here, so we can talk…”

Roger stood from the chair, but right when he was about to move it aside, he heard the back door knob rattle.

“Someone’s here, Clyde. Be quiet,” he whispered.

He ran to grab his gun, then watched from behind the door as the lock was picked. When the door slowly opened, he waited for the intruder to show themselves, but all he saw was a canister being tossed in. It rolled on the ground for a second, then released a smoke screen that quickly filled the cabin in a thick fog.

_God dammit, not like this!_

Roger wanted to shoot, but he was afraid of accidentally shooting through a wall and hitting Clyde. Not that he knew if that was possible, but he didn’t want to find out by attempting.

In the end, all of his efforts went to waste when a figure stepped in and stabbed him in the stomach. Afterwards, they took Roger’s phone, kicked the chair away from the door hiding Clyde, then exited the cabin.

Clyde hid behind the door as well with only a pocket knife as a weapon to defend himself. The smoke had entered the room, which irritated his eyes. His heartbeat was deafening as he squinted through the smoke. They couldn’t have been here to kill him, but if they were, he hoped his friends would come back and find his body.

He held his breath and waited for the door to open, but it never did. Instead, he heard footsteps exit the cabin and close the door behind them. Clyde opened a window slightly to let out the smoke, then waited one minute before exiting to see what had happened. He was devastated to see his dad bleeding out on the floor.

“Dad!” he cried, rushing over to his father’s body. Though the smoke was mostly gone, he opened the back door and kicked out the canister. “Dad, can you hear me?! Who did this to you?”

“I don’t… I couldn’t…”

“It’s okay, Dad…” Clyde assured, holding his hand. “Just… just rest, and…”

Roger’s body began fading in and out.

“Oh my god! Dad, what’s happening to you?!” Clyde panicked, trying to keep hold of the hand that disappeared from sight.

“My phone… They…”

“They?” Clyde questioned. “They as in you didn’t know their gender, or they as in… hey, don’t disappear on me Dad, please!”

His pleas were useless. Roger Donovan had lost, and his body had disappeared off of the face of the Earth. Even the pool of blood had vanished, erasing every trace of the tenth player. At this moment, Clyde’s tears didn’t come. Rex walked over, stood by Clyde’s side, then lied down against him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who killed Roger Donovan? Place your bets here! Winner gets absolutely nothing!
> 
> I literally just came up with how to access the diary on an iPhone. In FD, they used flip phones with no pass-code, but everyone in South Park has an iPhone. I knew the diary was supposed to be an app in this case, as explained when Mysterion showed off his lack of diary app in chapter 5, but it was supposed to be easily accessible, meaning no pass-code. Of course, that’s pretty unrealistic nowadays, so the diary app is accessed through the lock screen by swiping up. Just a little fun fact.
> 
> Anyway, thank you so much for reading! Things get pretty fucking wild from here, so hopefully I can update soon! Also, sorry for leaving you with no parents, Clyde...


	10. Impulsive Decision

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Man did this take forever. I kept getting new ideas, so I was always revising. I hope you enjoy!
> 
> Quick note: I posted this with little revision because I was preeeeetty tired, so I'll look it over tomorrow morning.

******10/28/2018 08:24 PM [Tucker Residence, Living Room]**

The boys waited around the living room for Clyde’s return. According to Craig and Tweek’s diaries, he will arrive in a few minutes. Though they originally were waiting in Craig’s room, they were all too anxious for Clyde’s return, which led to them sitting silently on the floor or the couch, all going through their phones for something interesting.

They were also joined by Tricia, who claimed that the look on everyone’s faces screamed “dangerous adventure”, and she didn’t want to be left out of the loop again. After listening to their plan and what they had experienced, she was glad that she wasn’t there to see it, and she also gained a slight fear of dogs.

There were two slow knocks on the door, followed by a lazy fist sliding down on the surface. Clyde had returned.

Kenny stood to answer it while everyone huddled around. When he opened the door, all eyes were on the downcast brunette staring dully at the welcome mat. Kenny took him by the wrist and led him to the couch, and everyone huddled around once again. They were concerned for his well being, though they wanted to know the details of what had happened.

“I’ll get him some water,” said Tricia, who hurried over to the kitchen.

“How’re you holding up, man?” Token asked, leaning forward on the couch to meet the hunched over Clyde’s eyes.

“They killed him…” Clyde spoke so softly that those farther away had to strain to hear.

“Who?” asked Jimmy.

“I don’t know…” Clyde explained a little louder. “I was… he locked me in a room when it happened, but…”

“Hold on, locked in a room?” Kenny questioned. “Start from the beginning, man. Right after you were dragged inside and Craig and I had to wait on the other side of the door.”

“Don’t overwhelm him,” Tricia warned, walking over to hand Clyde a glass of water. “He’ll tell the story when he’s ready.”

Clyde shook his head and took the glass from Tricia, staring at his reflection in the water before speaking. “I’ll be fine. I can tell the story.”

Despite the others trying to tell him to calm down, Clyde chugged the entire glass of water, let out a huge sigh, then held the glass out in front of him for Craig to put on the coffee table.

“First of all, how much did you guys hear?” Clyde asked Kenny and Craig, his energy somewhat more restored than before.

“You guys were pretty quiet for the most part,” Kenny recalled. “The only part I could hear somewhat clearly was when he started calling out orders in response to Tweek’s attack, then he told the dogs to keep an eye on Craig and I, calling us users. Seriously, why does everyone think I’m a user?”

“You act so suspicious, that’s why,” Tweek pointed out. “Yesterday, you said you were the one trying to take his picture while you were in the woods. Who wouldn’t find that suspicious?”

“You got me there,” Kenny grinned, winking as he pointed a finger gun at Tweek.

“Anyway…” Clyde interrupted. “So before that, he was talking about how he went into hiding because of the game. He also told me that because I was involved with you guys, I needed to take you guys out of there because he didn’t want to hurt you just yet.”

“So he  _ did _ intend to kill Craig and Kenny,” Tweek concluded, keeping his glare inside out of respect for Clyde. Clyde hadn’t elaborated on it yet, but Tweek was pretty sure that when Clyde said, “they killed him”, he meant his dad. 

“Not  _ yet _ ,” Clyde clarified, eyes narrowing at Tweek. “He knew he couldn’t avoid you guys forever, but he wanted to spare you at that moment because you guys are my friends. That is, until  _ someone _ changed the future by suddenly charging in…”

Jimmy and Token, who sat on either side of Clyde, held Clyde down by the arms when he tried to stand. Tweek had already stood once Clyde not-so-subtly called him out, so Craig held an arm out to keep him back as he whispered “don’t do it” under his breath.

“You know, he probably wouldn’t have been killed if  _ you _ just stuck to the plan!” Clyde hissed from the couch.

“You’re blaming  _ me _ for your dad’s death?!” Tweek retorted, baffled by Clyde’s accusatory tone. 

“Babe, please calm down,” Craig pleaded, grabbing him by the shoulders. “This really isn’t something to be fighting about right now—”

“He locked me in a room because  _ you _ made him think he was gonna die! If he didn’t, maybe whoever killed him wouldn’t have come, or maybe I could’ve been there to save him!”

“So you’re blaming me for  _ your _ dad locking  _ you _ up?!”

“Okay, it was pretty bad of him to lock me up, but it was only because he…”

_ Didn’t want me to watch him kill you guys?  _ Clyde bit his lip. That wasn’t a good point to make. 

“Well, _you_ should’ve followed the plan!” Clyde spat literally, as Tweek had to wipe the saliva off of his face. “You’re always trying to save Craig, but you never pay attention to who you sacrifice in the process. You threw Token and Jimmy into danger because they were trying to keep you from running into the woods and ruining the plan!”

“Clyde, that’s  _ enough _ ,” Token warned, pushing him back onto the sofa when he tried to stand again. Just move on with your story—”

“Well I’m  _ sorry _ that I love Craig and want him to be safe!” Tweek shot back, forcing his way past Craig’s arms.

“Tweek,  _ stop it,”  _ Craig demanded, grabbing onto his bicep.

“Listen to your boyfriend, Tweek,” Clyde sneered. “You’ll do anything for him, won’t you? You’ll kill more people, won’t you?”

“T-too far, Clyde!” Jimmy stepped in with a glare as he assisted Token at holding him down. 

With a low tone, Tweek leaned in front of Clyde's face with daggers in his eyes. “Don’t think for one second that I’ll let you get away with that just because your dad’s dead—”

“ **_ENOUGH, BOTH OF YOU!_ ** _ ” _ Craig commanded, pushing Tweek back and holding his arms out between the two.

Everyone was stunned into silence, and all eyes were on Craig.

“Clyde, I know you’re upset about everything that happened, but I’m  _ not _ going to let you call Tweek a murderer.”

“Always taking his side…” Clyde muttered, folding his arms with a huff. 

“Shut up,” was all Craig had to say to that. He turned to Tweek and took his hand. “And Tweek, I know you’re just worried about me. I get that.”

Tweek looked at him with a smile, happy that Craig was taking his side.

“But,” Craig said sternly. 

His smile faded. Tweek knew he stepped out of line, and he knew Craig was going to scold him for it again. But in his defense, he didn’t intend to kill Clyde’s dad. He just wanted to get Craig out of harm’s way.

Then again, Clyde was right. The past few times he tried to save Craig, many lives were either in danger or lost completely. It really did seem like he didn’t care for the people involved when Craig was in trouble.

Tweek hung his head low, his eyes squinting as he squeezed Craig’s hand tightly. “I understand,” he mumbled. “I… I’ll be more careful.”

“I want you to promise me,” said Craig. “I trust you. I really do, but…”

“...You  _ don’t _ trust me, do you?”

Craig raised an eyebrow, as well as the group, who were curious about the sudden development.

“Don’t misinterpret my words. I’m not hiding anything from you when I say that I trust you.”

Tweek’s eyes widened when he realized that he had said that out loud. He bit his lip to prevent anything unnecessary from slipping out as he tried to recover from his statement. 

“I’m sorry, Craig. I didn’t mean to say that. I do believe you, I promise.”

He turned to the rest of the guys, who were all staring at him from the couch.

“I’m sorry, you guys,” he apologized, his head lowered to avoid their gazes. “I’m sorry for ruining the plan. Also, I’m sorry for all the fucked up things I said to you, Clyde. I’m sorry for putting you guys in danger. I’m sorry you guys had to see this side of me. I’m sorry that all I seem to do is get into trouble.”

_ I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. _

He began mouthing his apologizes rather than speaking then out loud at this point. He was trembling, conflicted over the idea of running away from the painful silence versus staying and facing the music. His eyes were still to the ground, afraid to see the disappointment in everyone’s faces.

Craig squeezed Tweek’s hand tightly, but it didn’t stop his mumbling. He didn’t expect the guys to forgive him, but as long as he could assure Tweek that he was still on his side, Tweek won’t feel so alone. 

But that just brings up a question he had asked himself many times before: how much longer could he defend him? Tweek will promise to keep himself under control, but he just reverts back to dangerously overprotective mode the second trouble arrives. At this rate, the two of them would have to go into hiding just to protect themselves.

Suddenly, Clyde speaks up, ending the silence that filled the room.

“It’s fine,” he said, surprising everyone. He stood and walked over to Tweek, placing a hand on his shoulder. “I mean… you just wanted to protect Craig like I wanted to protect my dad. You guys are in a pretty shitty situation as it is, so I guess… who am I to get angry at you?”

“But… if I didn’t come charging in, your dad wouldn’t have attacked us in the first place…” Tweek mumbled as he explained. 

“Tweek, we made a plan that could place Craig in danger. Even if you could see his future, you would’ve still panicked. That’s just you, and I should know this by now.”

“So you’re not mad?” Craig asked.

“Both of my parents are dead now, dude,” said Clyde. “I’m feeling a lot of things, but I’m not really mad at Tweek.” He glanced over at Tweek for a moment, his hand still on his shoulder. “But if you get one of us killed, you’re dead to me,” he warned, his face serious.

“That’s fair, man,” Tweek agreed, showing a small smile. “Feel free to kill me if that happens.”

“Babe,  _ no,”  _ Craig panicked, fearing Tweek’s words to be true. “Don’t make promises like that.”

“I won’t kill him, Craig,” Clyde assured. “I’ll figure out how to make his life hell, though.”

“Aww, bonding!” Kenny cheered, standing and walking towards the group with open arms. “We all made up! Great! Group hug!”

He wrapped his arms around Clyde, Craig, and Tweek’s necks, pushing their faces into one another. “Come on, everyone!” he called out, waving over Token and Jimmy, who joined in by wrapping their arms around as many people’s backs as possible.

Tricia smiled at the awkward group hug, then returned to her phone. She had Karen’s chat open, but she hadn’t typed anything yet, nor has she typed anything for the past several days. She chewed on her bottom lip, trying to think of something to say after avoiding her for so long.

“You weren’t really part of the adventure, but join in Trish!” Kenny grinned, waving Tricia over as well.

“Ew, no. I’m not joining a sweaty man hug,” she teased before returning to her phone.

When Tweek gathered the group in the kitchen to find something for dinner, Kenny took a seat beside Tricia, who had stood from the floor and sat down onto the couch.

“Hey,” he greeted calmly, politely keeping a short distance from her on the couch. “You know… there’s a certain someone who misses you.”

Tricia continued to stare at the blinking line in the text box. “I don’t know what to say to her.”

“Wanna talk about it?”

“Well…” she paused, searching for the right words. “Does she know anything about the game?”

“You… you don’t think she’s one of them, do you?” Kenny asked, suddenly concerned. “Did she tell you something? Did you find out on your own? Tricia, I’m her brother. I need to know if she’s hiding something this important from me.”

“I don’t think she is,” Tricia replied. “You know how there’s a button on the lock screen with the diary symbol? She doesn’t have that.”

“Thank god,” he sighed, leaning back on the couch with his hand over his heart. “Sorry, didn’t mean for that little freak-out. So what’s the problem between you guys?”

“I’ve been trying to figure out how to tell her about our friend dying,” Tricia confessed, sighing. “She noticed his disappearance and mentioned it to me, and I just stopped talking to her because I didn’t know how to explain it to her.”

“Her friend? Which one?”

“Ike. Black hair, Canadian, hangs with us a lot.”

Kenny’s eyes suddenly widened as he faced forward.

“Ike Broflovski?” he whispered as he spun to face her. “Like, Kyle’s brother who went missing like a week ago Ike Broflovski?”

Tricia hummed in agreement. “Yeah. Turns out he was a user, but he lost and died or something. Disappeared off of the face of the earth, I think.”

To Kenny, the only person that could’ve explained the diary game to Tricia was either Ike or Craig. Unless Ike fully trusted her or intended to involve her in the game somehow, the more likely candidate was Craig, who would explain the game to her if she got involved somehow. He didn’t know any of the details of the battle with the Fifth, but he did know that in order for Ike to disappear, his phone would have to be broken.

Only one person came to mind. He knew of only one person who would kill someone dear to one of his friends for the sake of saving his love. And that person was, undoubtedly, a user as well.

“Oh my god…” Kenny whispered, pushing his bangs back as he pressed a hand to his forehead. “This is not good.”

“Um… Do you think Kyle knows?” Tricia asked. “You know… Who killed his brother, I mean.”

Kenny was silent. He leaned forward, his elbows on his knees and his chin resting on clasped hands.

“We’re not going to worry about that for now. We’ll just focus on how to tell Karen about Ike without having to bring up the game.”

“Ken, Trish, come to the kitchen! I wasn’t done with my story!” Clyde called out. “Also, we’re getting some ‘we didn’t die’ celebratory pizzas, so what do you guys want?”

“We won’t talk about this in front of them,” Kenny whispered to Tricia. 

Tricia nodded, then followed him into the kitchen where Token was trying to order pizzas on his phone.

“We’re getting meat lovers and a basic pepperoni,” said Token.

“Do you want a small personal pizza, Tricia?” Tweek asked. “Or a side of garlic bread? I’ll pay.”

“Yeah, let Tweek pay since he almost killed us,” Clyde mumbled into the chocolate snack cake he took from the pantry. Craig shot him a glare when he heard him.

Once Token put in the order, Clyde, Tweek, Craig, and Tricia sat at the table while the others stood by the counters.

“I didn’t mention the crazy part yet,” Clyde brought up, continuing his story. “So before my dad sent the dogs after you guys, he used my old dog Rex to keep me from leaving this room that he tried to lock me in. Remember him?”

“Guh… grey d-dog? Like… this tall?” Jimmy asked, holding a hand to his knee.

“The one Stan’s dog ‘attacked’ that one time?” Kenny recalled, stifling a laugh. 

“Come on, Ken,” Clyde rolled his eyes. “That was a nightmare for my eight year old eyes, and Rex ran away after that.”

Craig recalled Clyde knocking on his door in tears when it happened. They were so young then, and he was surprised that he remembered something from so long ago. Besides anything that happened when he was ten, which seemed to go on forever.

“S-so how long… how long d-did your dad l-l-luh… lock you up?” asked Jimmy, who had pushed himself up on top of the counter.

“Not that long after you guys ran off,” Clyde answered. “So while you guys were running, I was banging on the door to be let out and for him to not hurt you guys. That’s when he said something weird. I can’t remember the exact words, but it was something about some woman talking about players and allies? That part was pretty fuzzy, but I remember it being really weird.”

The couple gave each other a knowing look, followed by a sigh.

“Sounds like Heidi’s meddling again,” said Tweek.

“School b-bomb… bomber H-Heidi?” Jimmy asked.

Craig nodded. “The god warned me about who I ally myself with, so I’m sure she was referring to me. Or me and Tweek. Either way, this was probably set up to put Clyde against us.

“ _ Me?” _ Clyde questioned, leaning into Craig’s personal space with eyes wide.

“It’s just a guess, but that’s the most logical explanation,” Craig explained. “She knows everything about everyone, so she must’ve been trying to see if you would turn against us to save your dad.”

“I would never turn against you guys, though!” Clyde panicked. “I told my dad that you weren’t trying to kill him, I swear!”

“I didn’t say you were,” said Craig. “I know what you were doing. We’re not suspecting you.”

Clyde leaned back in his chair quietly, thinking back on what had happened with his father. He recalled his death, but instead of tears falling, he felt his throat close up. He stared down at his phone, which he held on his thighs. 

“That reminds me…” Token spoke up. “Earlier, you mentioned that your dad was killed by someone, but you didn’t know who, right? Because you were locked in a room?”

Token watched for Clyde’s reaction to his question, and he was prepared to change the subject if he saw signs of discomfort. Clyde reacted by pulling his knees to his chest and squinting.

“There was this huge fog, so they probably used a smoke screen,” Clyde explained, using his hands to imitate smoke spreading around the room, though he nearly hit Craig in the process. “I couldn’t see anything, and it was making my eyes water. I think that’s why my dad couldn’t stop them. Because he was blinded, I mean.”

Craig pat Clyde on the back while Tweek racked his brain for answers. He couldn’t think of anyone who could possibly be a user, especially not someone who would target Clyde’s dad. There was also a possibility of the murder being done by someone who wasn’t a user, which would make them more difficult to track.

“Where’s the body?” Tweek questioned. “Is it back at the cabin, or did it disappear?”

“Disappear?” Token wondered. Kenny pulled him and Jimmy aside briefly to explain.

“He was stabbed, I think. I didn’t hear any gunshots,” said Clyde. “Whoever did it freed me from the room, and when I saw my dad, he was bleeding on the floor. His body started fading in and out, and then he suddenly disappeared. All the blood was gone too.”

Craig looked to Tweek, who appeared as if his thoughts were overwhelming him. He was pressing his fingers on his temples in an attempt to “think harder”, yet Clyde’s words didn’t narrow down any suspects. If he could use Kenny, a non-diary user, to kill an actual user by breaking their phone, then anyone could be a suspect.

Then there was Heidi. It’s possible that she could’ve killed Clyde’s dad for failing to kill him and Craig, but judging by her obsession with entertainment, that would be unlikely… or so he thought. He had no idea what was going on in that girl’s mind. She could’ve killed him for the sake of drama.

To calm him, Craig placed a hand on Tweek’s shoulder, surprising him into coming back to reality.

“What do you think?” Craig asked.

Tweek groaned, unable to come up with a reasonable response.

“Maybe if he had seen any features, it would be easier.”

“Sorry. I didn’t see anything…” Clyde mumbled, hiding his face behind his knees.

“N-no body and no ev… evidence,” Jimmy sighed. “We’ve g-got no… got nothing.”

“Let’s drop it for now,” Token suggested, walking over to Clyde and patting his shoulder. “You’re pretty stressed out, aren’t you man?”

Clyde nodded. Too much had happened today, and all he wanted to do was sleep his troubles away.

After pizza, of course.

* * *

**10/28/2018 08:38 PM [Cathedral of Causality]**

“They made up now, but First will lose their trust before you know it,” said Heidi as she watched the scene play out on a holographic screen. “I’m sorry, my love. I was sure this would end in more tears.”

“Don’t beat yourself up, my dear,” Eric smiled, holding an arm out for a hug. “There were tears when the boy watched his father die in front of him, not to mention all the other dramatic moments between loved ones. Your meddling has made this game very entertaining. Without you, the players would stay in hiding forever. I congratulate your efforts.”

Heidi floated over to Eric and sat on his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck. Instead of holding her, Eric simply stroked her hair.

“I’m happy to have someone as dedicated as you,” he said. “I speak the truth when I say that your devotion is my favorite trait of yours.”

“My devotion?” she repeated.

“Yes,” Eric confirmed, nuzzling his face into her neck. “I feel very calm when you’re with me like this, but your devotion is what I love the most about you.”

“I see,” Heidi replied, her cheery tone contrasting the blank expression that she hid from Eric’s view. When he pulled away, she quickly put on a smile as she grabbed onto his hand to hold tightly. “I’ll do anything for you, darling.”

Eric smiled back at her. “I’ve been saying this for thousands of years now, but I adore the way couples show affection for each other. That’s why I created you, and I’ve never regretted it, even for a second. I may be dying soon, but I feel like it would be a peaceful death with you by my side.”

“Don’t speak of your death like that. It saddens me,” Heidi explained as she stroked his cheek. “As your creation, it is my duty to be the perfect partner for you, and I will make sure that you are happy for as long as I am by your side.”

With a nod, Eric turned back to the screen, putting his focus on Tweek once again.

“First is sure to win,” he commented. “He’s the most fascinating of them all. Tell me, how do you plan on bringing out his… eccentric behavior? There’s definitely something wrong with him, and I’d like to know what that is.”

“Please be patient, love,” Heidi winked. “I have a plan for him. Don’t you worry.”

“My dear, the Fourth wants to see you,” Eric pointed out, looking at the screen focused on Wendy.

Heidi poked her head in and raised the volume bar by dragging her finger up on the screen.

“I need to speak with you, Heidi Turner,” Wendy announced. 

With the wave of his hand, Eric brought Wendy inside the Cathedral, where she stood up straight with her hands behind her back.

“You never want to speak with me,” Eric teased. 

“That would be pointless,” Wendy explained. “There’s no way to reason with you.”

“So you think you can seduce me into ending the game for you? I’d like to see that,” Heidi grinned, floating behind Wendy and wrapping her arms around her neck.

Wendy rolled her eyes. “Not even if you were human."

Heidi giggled as she floated back to Eric’s side. “So what brought you here today?”

“I have a few questions for you. It involves these.”

Wendy held out her purse, which had all the recovered diaries inside. She walked up to Heidi and Eric with two handfuls of diaries, which Eric took from her and levitated them in front of him.

“So many diaries…” Eric noted, nodding his head in approval. “This game is going smoothly.”

Wendy didn’t acknowledge his comment. “The screens are all cracked, but they will still turn on. From that, I noticed that they all had something in common. Care to explain?”

Eric turned to Heidi, as he knew nothing about Wendy’s question. Heidi said nothing, and she instead smiled as she waited for Wendy to continue.

* * *

**11/03/2018 01:45 AM [Tucker Residence, Craig’s Room]**

Though Tweek had fallen asleep before Craig, he woke up again to the sound of a voice he didn’t recognize.

_ Come home. _

Having gotten used to the voices in his head, despite all the therapy that promised they would stop, he stared into the dark room, waiting for something else to be said.

_ I am home, _ he replied to the voice.

After that, there was silence, save for Craig’s light snores beside him. Tweek continued to stare into the darkness before falling back asleep.

* * *

**11/03/2018 07:02 AM [Tucker Residence, Craig’s Room]**

_ Come home. _

Tweek awoke to the voice again, feeling dizzy.

_ What do you want from me? _ He asked.

_ Come home, Tweek. Come home. _

Tweek groaned as he sat up, but his head began to hurt when he did. In the process, he managed to wake up Craig.

“Honey?” Craig asked. “Are you alright?”

“Stupid voices,” Tweek muttered, holding a hand to his forehead.

“Voices?” Craig wondered. “Is Heidi talking to you again? Or the god?”

“No. I would recognize them, but this voice is different.”

Craig stared at the ceiling, still drowsy from being woken up abruptly. “We need to get you a new therapist,” he noted. “Clearly, rehab didn’t cover hearing voices in your head.”

“The voices kept telling me to come home,” Tweek explained. “I don’t get it.”

“You are home, though,” Craig pointed out, confused. 

“I know. I don’t get it either, but… My head is hurting.”

“You have a headache? There’s something in the bathroom cabinet for that. We can stay home, if you want.”

Tweek took a deep breath and stood up slowly. His body felt weak, but he didn’t want to worry Craig.

“I’ll just take the pills,” Tweek assured. “And I’ll still go to school. I’ll be fine, I promise.”

Craig nodded, but he was still unsure. He decided to take Tweek’s word and stop worrying, even though this may be something much more concerning than Tweek was making it out to be.

* * *

**11/03/2018 10:49 AM [Columbus High, Room 212]**

Only one minute before class ended, and the teacher was still rambling about the author’s message from some old English classic. Tweek had been doodling castles out of cubes to pass the time, as well as ignoring the several small crumpled up pieces of paper that Kenny had been tossing at his desk whenever the teacher’s back was turned. He only opened one, which had a doodle of Kenny in the princess outfit he wore during their Stick of Truth days. Above the doodle was the word “kawaii”, and when Tweek turned to Kenny about it, Kenny only flashed him a peace sign. He stopped looking at the notes after that.

_ Come home.  _

Tweek places his pen on his notebook and pressed his fingertips to his forehead, taking a deep breath as he tried to silence the voices.

_ Stop, _ he pleaded.

_ Come home, come home, come home, come home. _

Kenny watched with concern as Tweek leaned forward in his desk, quietly seething with his eyes shut tight. He wrote “u ok” on another torn off piece of notebook paper, but the bell rang right as he was about to put it on Tweek’s desk.

While the students rushed to leave the boring lecture, Kenny approached Tweek to slip the note into his field of vision. Instead of reading it however, Tweek stood from his desk and walked off, leaving his belongings behind.

“That can’t be good,” Kenny noted as he hurriedly tossed Tweek’s books and writing utensils into his backpack and carried it out.

He watched Tweek pass by Craig without a word, so he handed Tweek’s backpack to Craig.

“Tweek’s angry with me, but I’ll apologize,” Kenny lied, turning to Tweek to make sure he doesn’t get too far. “Here’s his stuff. He has his phone, so don’t worry. I got this.”

“God dammit, McCormick, what did you do?”

But Kenny had already chased after Tweek. After hearing about Ike from Tricia, Kenny wanted to follow Tweek to see what he was up to now. Was he off to take down any more users on his own? He was very curious to find out.

Tweek walked out of the building, passed through Main Street, then stopped in front of Craig’s house. He stared at it blankly until the voices spoke again. 

_ Your home. Your real home. _

He didn’t reply this time. His legs dragged him over to his relatives’ home— _ his old home _ —where he pulled the keys out of his pocket and entered the empty house. He held onto the keys, as it was common for him to visit this house for various reasons: nostalgia, picking up belongings he had left in his room, and so on. His aunt and uncle never minded. They felt bad for him, seeing how his parents had abused him with drugs for years.

He wandered carelessly, kicking the door closed and forgetting to lock the door behind him. Because of this, Kenny entered with ease, though Tweek didn’t notice.

_ Come here.  _

Tweek entered the backyard, once again forgetting to close the glass door properly. He stood on the patio without a word, staring out into nothing. After a few seconds, he spun on his heel and picked up a large shovel propped up against a skinny tree.

_ Come here, come here, come here, come here. _

Tweek began digging where he stood, walking forward as he dug to create a sloped hole. He no longer had control over his actions, nor did he question them. He just started digging and digging with no regard for the damage he was causing to the yard.

Kenny snaps Tweek out of his trance when he calls out to him. Tweek froze, then looked down at the hole he had dug up. He was standing about a foot underground, though he had yet to come across anything of interest.

“Wha… What’s going on?!” Tweek cried out, throwing the shovel onto the dirt.

“I’d like to ask the same thing,” said Kenny, who stood above him. The hole was large enough to slide down without crashing into Tweek, so Kenny jumped in and took the shovel. “You just leave class without a word. You were practically hypnotized.”

Tweek recalled the same thing happening during his first fight with the serial killer, though the voice was different. “I was… There were these voices telling me to come here, and… I’m in a hole all of a sudden.”

He could see the disbelief in Kenny’s eyes. “It’s true!” he pleaded. “During my first battle against the third user, I led Craig to the lofts of SoDoSoPa because these voices told me to! I don’t know why I followed them, but when I realized what was happening, we were already on the roof! If Craig were here, he could vouch for me! This has happened before! I’m telling you!”

“Better get a refund from that rehab place because they did  _ not _ fix you,” was all Kenny had to say to that. It didn’t indicate whether Kenny believed him or not, but it sure did prove that Kenny thought of Tweek as someone crazy.

Tweek cautiously dug the tip of his shoe into the dirt and hit something flat. He yelped and ran out of the hole, leaving Kenny and the shovel behind. He texted Craig immediately to come find him at his house while Kenny continued to dig in his place.

Kenny started by digging his foot into the dirt the same was Tweek did. He too ran into something flat, which he dusted off with his hand.

“What is it?!” Tweek called out from the patio. “Is it a body?!”

“It’s a wooden box,” said Kenny. “If there’s money in here, I’m keeping it.”

He opened the lid to the box, which lifted up from the hinges on the side. Inside, he found photos, doodles, a flash drive, and poorly scribbled letters.

“Oh my  _ god _ , is this a fucking time capsule?” Kenny snorted, picking up a letter torn out of a spiral bound notebook that had Tweek’s handwriting on it. “It’s from September 2012. Dear Craig, if you find this letter, just know that—”

“That’s not for you!” Tweek huffed, jumping back into the hole to snatch the letter form Kenny. He shoved it back into the box and wiggled it out of the dirt. “Now I have to hide it somewhere else.”

Kenny spotted something unusual from where Tweek had removed the box.

“Hey, there’s something else here,” he pointed out.

“Get out of there,” Tweek ordered, pointing towards the door. “ _ I’ll _ dig it up.”

Tweek didn’t remember what else could’ve been hidden under there, but he hoped it wouldn’t be something embarrassing that Kenny could laugh at him about. He noticed something jutting out of the dirt, so he carefully pushed the dirt around with the shovel.

Soon, a pale yellow object came into view. It was smooth, round, and…

“It’s a skull,” Kenny announced as Tweek let the shovel slip out of his hands. He jumped down again and picked up the shovel to continue digging while Tweek ran out of the hole.

Due to his carelessness, Craig was also able to enter the house without trouble, though he locked the front door before entering the backyard. He found Tweek running his way when he opened the sliding door. 

Tweek tugged on the fabric of Craig’s sweater as he buried his head in his chest.

“There’s… There’s…”

“Babe, what’s wrong?” Craig asked, pulling Tweek off of him to see his face. “What are you doing here? What happened?”

Tweek was mumbling something incohesive, so he looked to Kenny, who was still digging. Kenny was aware of his presence, but he was too focused on the task at hand to say anything.

“What are you doing, McCormick?” Craig called out. 

“A body!” Tweek blurted out. “There’s a body in there!”

“Make that two bodies,” Kenny clarified.

The couple hurried over to the top of the slope to see Kenny standing in front of two half-revealed skeletons side by side. In their current state, there were no signs to hint at who the skeletons belonged to.

“At this point, I’m not even surprised anymore,” said Kenny. “But I am curious to know who these are. Care to explain, Tweek?”

“I didn’t do it!” Tweek exclaimed, balling his fist and pointing to the skeletons. “I may have done a lot of things I regret, but I didn’t do  _ that!” _

“Either it was you, your parents, or your relatives that are living here,” Kenny listed, counting them off on his fingertips. “I mean, there’s always other options, but the fact that you actually came here to dig it up,  _ knowing  _ they were here, is pretty suspicious in itself.”

“I  _ didn’t _ know they were there!” Tweek claimed. “I told you, I was led here by—”

“Voices in your head. Yeah, I got that.”

“That’s believable for him, actually,” Craig pointed out. “This has happened before. We ended up at SoDoSoPa.”

“See?” Tweek said proudly.

“That’s not a good thing,” Kenny sighed. “Anyway, I just want to know what the deal is with these bodies.”

“Why does it matter to you?” Craig questioned. “Are you trying to prove that Tweek is just some ruthless murderer or something?”

“I’m not saying Tweek is the murderer. I just wanna know, that’s all,” Kenny explained with a shrug.

“You don’t have to know,” Craig retorted. “It’s not any of your business, and all you’re doing is stressing Tweek out with baseless accusations.”

Kenny walked up the slope and out of the hole, then tossed the shovel onto the ground. Tweek hurriedly picked it up and began covering up the hole with dirt.

“Actually, it’s kinda my job to look into things like this,” said Kenny. He pulled out a brown leather wallet and held it open so that a gold police badge was revealed.

Tweek stopped filling the hole once he saw the badge, but he held onto the shovel. Craig stepped in front of him and told him to continue while he dealt with Kenny.

“How’d you get your hands on that thing?” Craig wondered, suspicious about its authenticity.

“I needed money, and the police force just hired me because of my work as Mysterion. I get paid to solve cases for them.”

Craig rolled his eyes at the thought of such an incompetent police force hiring teenagers to do their job for them. He took a closer look at the badge, but since he hadn’t seen one up close before, he didn’t know how to pass judgement. It didn’t even look like plastic or gold paint, which he knew that was all Kenny could afford.

“Well let me just say this: a corpse takes up to eight to twelve years to decompose into a skeleton when buried underground, so this couldn’t have been done by Tweek.”

Tweek looked to him questioningly, raising an eyebrow at the statement.

“I was trying to prove Clyde wrong in an argument about zombies,” Craig explained.

“I see your point, but I’m still gonna look into it. Gotta pay those bills, you know. Not everyone can make money off of their parents’ arrest.”

With that said, Kenny walked away with his hands in his pockets, but not before stopping at the door to make one last request.

“Seriously though, please don’t try to destroy the evidence or anything. I actually do need the money for a lot of reasons.”

Craig watched him leave, then turned to Tweek, who continued to restore the yard to its previous state. How he was going to put the grass back was beyond him, so he hoped his aunt wouldn’t notice.

“Babe?” Craig asked.

“I didn’t do it, Craig,” Tweek sighed, still focused on his work.

“No, I wasn’t going to ask that.”

Craig took the shovel from Tweek’s hands and let it fall to the floor. He held Tweek in his arms, holding his head close to his chest.

“It’s okay to be scared,” he whispered, stroking Tweek’s hair.

Tweek gripped the back of Craig’s sweater and hid his face in his chest.

“I think I’m going insane… The voices… They were able to control me again…”

“I don’t use my diary often, but I will now. I’ll use it to make sure you don’t get into any trouble, alright? I should’ve used it to see what you were up to so I could stop you. I’m sorry. I’m not trying hard enough to help you.”

Tweek held Craig’s cheeks in his hands, forcing their eyes to meet.

“Don’t say that,” he said. “You’ve done more for me than I deserved, and that’s why I’m trying so hard to protect you. I really mean it when I say that I’ll try harder to restrain myself, okay? I won’t let the voices take over again.”

Craig held one of the icy hands on his cheek, turned his head, then kissed it. He took them both and breathed hot air at them to warm them from the chilly November air, causing Tweek’s heart to skip a beat.

“You need to relax,” Craig advised. He led him to the door and gestured toward a couch. “Wait over there for me. I’ll take care of this for you.”

Tweek smiled and nodded. He picked up the time capsule he left near the door and brought it inside with him. While waiting for Craig, he sorted through cheesy letters and photos, cringing at his own and grinning widely at Craig’s.

Outside, Craig did his best to fill up the remainder of the hole, paying close attention to piles of dirt lying around that made it look like digging took place. He smoothed out the top, but without grass, the area looked out of place. He shrugged and placed the shovel against the tree before returning to Tweek.

As they left, Heidi made herself visible by the fence gate. She floated over, held glowing hands over the patch of dirt, then raised grass to match the height of its surroundings. Satisfied, she returned to the Cathedral, where Eric was awaiting her return.

“Welcome back, my love,” he greeted, holding out a hand for her. “A wonderful show, like always. You could say that I’m obsessed with this story. Would you please tell me about the skeletons? That was the most intriguing part of all.”

“Now, now, dear. My lips are sealed. You won’t get me to ruin this story for you,” Heidi replied as she took his hand. “But I will tell you this: expect more conflict to come very soon.”

“Oh, definitely,” Eric agreed. “Especially after that little visit we received a few days ago.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who killed Roger Donovan? Does Kyle know who killed his brother? What does Wendy want to ask Heidi? Who do the bodies in Tweek's backyard belong to? Why do I keep adding more questions instead of answering them???
> 
> Some of these will be answered in the next chapter, so look forward to it!


	11. Nullified Contract

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THIS WILL BE REALLY LONG SO YOU BETTER HAVE A LOT OF FREE TIME.  
> I’ve got a lot of my police research mixed up throughout previous chapters because I’ve been watching a lot of Brooklyn Nine Nine recently so… yeah lol. Thought it would be a better reference than the Japanese police from Future Diary. Probably not, but it’s a good show so...

**11/07/2018 04:25 PM [Main Street, Diner]**

Stan fumbled with a packet of sugar over his coffee. He didn’t like the bitterness of plain black coffee, but he would soon hate the overwhelming sweetness if he continued to pour obscene amounts of sugar into his cup. The pile of paper packets on the table only grew.

His nervousness started from the moment Wendy asked him to meet her at this diner earlier that day. She said it wasn’t work related, so he hoped this would be considered a date. He had never been on a date before, seeing how he had only been in love with one other person that never gave him a chance, so he wasn’t sure how to look Wendy in the eye.

“You’re probably wondering why I called you out here,” Wendy spoke up, causing Stan to nearly drop the whole packet into his cup.

“Right!” said Stan. “Uh… I don’t have any new information for you, so I couldn’t think of any reason for you to want to meet with me.”

“I just wanted to chat with you.”

Stan looked up to see Wendy smiling into her coffee. She then directed her smile at him, which had Stan’s face heating up. He took a sip of his coffee to calm down, but the sweetness was disgusting. He tried to spit it back into the cup without her noticing.

“Remember when I told you that the first time I’ve seen you was when your dad was being pulled over for driving while intoxicated?”

Stan nodded as he hummed in agreement.

“Well… A few days after we met again at your school, I remembered something. I remembered meeting you much earlier than that time.”

“We met before then?”

“Yes,” Wendy confirmed. “You didn’t give me your name at the time, but I gave you mine. I was fourteen then, so you might have been ten.”

“Oh man… so much happened when I was ten, I’m sure that might be why I don’t remember you… unless we never saw each other again after that?” Stan assumed, digging through his memory without luck.

“You did something embarrassing, so you might’ve repressed the memory,” Wendy explained.

Stan’s eyes widened. “I didn’t piss myself in front of you, did I?” he asked softly, mortified by the possibility.

“No, but… Here, let me just explain the story.”

* * *

**05/30/2010 03:50 PM [Main Street, Playground]**

“Look at those kids over there,” Wendy said, pointing at a group of sixth graders surrounding two fourth grader boys. “They’re going to beat up those boys, I bet.”

“Wendy, I know you’re big on serving justice and all, but I _just_ did your nails during lunch,” a blonde girl whined. “Do _not_ ruin them by fighting!”

“Bebe, they’re shoving around the boy with the blue hat! I can’t just let them do that!”

Bebe sighed as she held out her hand. “Give me your bag. Punching and kicking is fine, but no clawing! You’ll chip the paint.”

“I know,” Wendy smiled, stretching her arms out in front of her.

She didn’t start with compromising. Once a sixth grader in a green shirt threw the first punch, she grabbed his wrist, twisted it behind his back, and pinned him onto the ground. As the boy cried out, she stood up while holding his arm behind his back with her foot.

“Fucking bitch!” another cursed as he charged towards her.

The boy who charged at her raised his fist to punch her, but she grabbed his wrist as well to stop him, dealt a right cross to his face, then hit him in the groin with her knee.

“You can’t kick a guy in the nuts!” one of the remaining bullies complained as his friend fell to the ground. “There’s a rule against that!”

“I’ve heard of it,” Wendy replied. “Guy code, was it? But that doesn’t apply to girls, unfortunately.”

“S… stop complaining and… avenge us, asshole!” The boy pinned to the ground grunted.

Three boys were left. They looked at each other briefly, then they all charged at once. Wendy hopped off the boy and sweep kicked one bully, causing him to crash into another and knock him down. The last boy tried to reach for her hair, but she stepped back, then charged forward to deliver a front stomping kick to his groin.

When the five boys were on the ground, she waved for the two fourth graders to follow her. She took them to Bebe, who began to lead them close to her house.

“Are you guys okay?” Wendy asked.

The boy in the green hat folded his arms with a pout. “We could’ve handled it,” he mumbled.

Wendy turned to the blue hat boy. “And you?”

The boy didn’t respond. He stared at her with eyes wide as saucers, almost as if he were hypnotized.

Wendy looked to Bebe, who just shrugged and motioned for Wendy to go inside her house by pointing at it with a head tilt.

“Well, uh… I’m Wendy, and this is Bebe,” she said. “What are your names?”

“Kyle,” said the green hat boy once he finished pouting.

“I’m… I’m Sta—”

Before he could finish his introduction, Stan threw up onto Wendy’s jacket, causing her to freeze in shock. Bebe screamed in Wendy’s place, then she dragged her friend into her house. Kyle could only stare at his best friend in confusion.

* * *

**11/07/2018 04:32 PM [Main Street, Diner]**

Stan’s face was buried in his hands.

“Oh god, I remember that now…”

“Yes, well… I guess I could’ve let you live your life without having to remember that,” Wendy giggled. “However, you threw up on me, so I felt the need to let you suffer for a little bit.”

“You said so yourself that I was repressing the memory, which I was!” Stan whined, pulling his hat over his eyes until it slipped off of his head completely. He then placed it on the table and hid his face in it. “Ugh… What a horrible way to thank someone for saving them…”

Wendy giggled again as she traced her finger on the pattern on her phone case. She planned to continue speaking when Stan spoke up again, but he stayed buried for about a minute.

“Aww, don’t be so embarrassed. It’s okay, really. I’ll make it up to you by allowing you to ask me any embarrassing question that you can think of.”

Stan poked his head up. He wanted to ask if she had done anything embarrassing while on a date, but he was positive that Wendy was too cool to do anything stupid.

“It’s not something embarrassing, but I wanted to know how you ended up where you are now. Like, how could you be in charge of a whole department at 22?”

“I’m really in charge of part of the department, that being all of my friends from the police academy,” Wendy sighed, resting her cheek on her fist. “Yates’ team still refuses to listen to me.”

“You’re the chief, though,” Stan pointed out, still confused. “If they don’t listen to you, can’t you just fire them?”

“The only commands they’ll take from me are grunt work like paperwork. I need my squad to be focused on solving cases and investigating suspects, not grunt work, so I can’t afford to fire too many people. Besides, they’re always bringing up that I never earned my title, which is… true, in a sense.”

Stan’s eyes widened in disbelief, but he stayed silent for the explanation.

“I was angry at the current chief," Wendy explained, sighing heavily. “He wasn’t getting anything done, and my friends persuaded me to challenge him for his title. All I had to do was solve a murder case that had been considered cold for almost a decade, and I did. I made a contract and everything since I really wanted that title, and he looked down on me enough to sign it. I still think he’s incompetent and that I put much more effort into protecting this city, but when I think about it, do I really deserve this title? If I can only lead part of the department, can I really call myself a good leader?”

Wendy drank half of her coffee and set the cup down on the table, hanging her head over it with another heavy sigh at the same time. With a clenched fist, she glared at the cup from the corner of her eye.

“I think you’re a great leader!” Stan said, trying to cheer her up. “Kenny says your squad really looks up to you, so you have to be doing something right.”

“Kenny?” Wendy questioned, raising her head. “Oh, McCormick? That guy who always wears that orange coat?”

“Do you not see him often?” Stan asked. “He said he worked with you guys. Has a badge and everything. Is it not real?”

“I see him every now and then. He walks in with a black mask, but the rest of his outfit is normal. I’m sure that’s his Mysterion mask, which he uses to get past the security up front. How he gets away with it is beyond me.”

“Why does he need his Mysterion mask?”

“Yates’ team hired Mysterion as a junior detective, but not McCormick. He’s supposed to be reporting crimes he comes across, but he can’t make any arrests. I’m sure they hired him so they could laze around more and take credit for his work.”

“Kenny’s always been into the whole ‘justice’ thing, so this does sound like something he’d do for money.”

“Hm?” Wendy wondered, raising an eyebrow. “I haven’t looked into his file. Is he having financial troubles?”

“He’s been poor as hell for as long as I’ve known him. Family of five, parents always too drunk to work, eats pop tarts for dinner. That sort of thing. He makes money through part time jobs and selling his body—”

 _“Excuse me?”_ Wendy interrupted, her hands pressed onto the table as she leaned forward.

“To science!” Stan corrected. “Sorry. I should’ve worded that differently. No, like, he does experiments for researchers. ‘How does the average person react to this’ or whatever. You know.”

Wendy bit the insides of her cheeks to prevent herself from laughing, but she failed, falling victim to the fit of giggles that escaped her mouth. She held her stomach as she began snorting, then covered her mouth to hide her embarrassment.

Stan’s eyes lit up upon witnessing Wendy’s softer side. Aside from today, he had never spoken to her about anything other than work-related matters, so she was serious most of the time. He was glad to see her so relaxed, especially after she reacted angrily about her leadership status.

“Oh my god,” Wendy giggled, wiping a tear from her eye. “That wasn’t even that funny, but I can’t stop laughing for some reason!”

A light blush dusted across Stan’s cheeks. He really hoped he could consider this a date.

“You know, uh… some people find you intimidating, but they don’t know the real you. The real you is fun, and nice, and totally _not_ scary. If anyone’s gonna stop this game, it’s you! I’ll continue to help you, of course, so don’t be afraid to—”

“Stan?”

Stan stopped his babbling from Wendy’s sudden interruption. Was she going to thank him? Was she going to confess something to him? The downcast look on her face said otherwise, which worried him.

“I… don’t think you should continue to help me anymore.”

* * *

**11/09/2018 09:08 PM [Tucker Residence, Living Room]**

Six days have passed since the incident, and Craig had grown increasingly worried about Tweek. He knew Tweek was trying to put on a brave front as often as he could, but he’d have to be blind to not notice how difficult it was for Tweek to forget about what had happened. During those past few days, Tweek would go through highs and lows. He would be laughing at one moment, then locking himself in the bathroom the next. It didn’t help that the two shared a room, so watching Tweek actively avoid him stung a little.

Craig knew Tweek had nothing to do with those bodies, and to ease Tweek’s worries, he actively texted Kenny whenever possible to ask whether he had a chance to run DNA tests on the skeletons. Still no news, even today. It turns out that he needs to inform someone about the reason why he needs the test done, but he promised Craig not to bring up where he found the bones unless it was absolutely necessary. Craig was glad Kenny trusted him since the last thing he needed was to give Tweek additional stress.

With his arm around Tweek’s shoulders, the two watched a superhero movie that had already been spoiled for them days ago by Clyde. Craig could hear Tricia call out his name as she walked downstairs, but he didn’t bother to pause the movie.

“Craig, Mom says to pick up some groceries,” Tricia announced, holding up her phone to show the text.

“At 9PM?” Craig wondered, looking at his phone. He saw that he had received the same text, but he didn’t notice his phone ring.

“She said she was gonna get them before she comes home, but she stayed at work for another late shift.”

“I can go,” said Tweek. He stood from the couch and slipped his phone into his pocket, which he had lying on the armrest earlier.

Craig paused the movie and stood to join him, but Tweek stopped him by pushing him down gently on the shoulder.

“I… need some alone time,” Tweek explained. He held Craig’s hand and smiled. “I’ll be okay. Nothing will happen, so you can trust me to do this.”

Tweek needed a moment to clear his head. He knew this movie would have a lot of death in it, and watching it only made him think about the bodies again. Taking a walk outside was probably the best option for him at the moment.

Upon opening the front door, Tweek spotted Clyde walking towards his house. Clyde turned at the sound of the door opening and waved at Tweek.

“Heading home?” Tweek asked.

“Kinda,” Clyde replied with a shrug. “Just looking to see what I can bring back to Token’s place. Where are you going?”

Tweek looked back at Craig, closed the door behind him, then power-walked over to Clyde.

“Hey, uh… Mind watching Craig for me? He’s worried that I’m getting groceries by myself, so I need you to distract him. You know, make him _not_ think about me.”

“So, you’re asking me to entertain him while you’re gone?” Clyde clarified. “Don’t have to tell me twice.”

Because Tweek didn’t lock the door, Clyde entered the Tucker home with ease. He immediately took a seat beside Craig on the couch.

“Oh shit, you’re watching this right now? You better get me some tissues before I start using your sweater as a snot rag.”

“Do it and I’ll kill you,” Craig glared. “Also, what are you doing here? What did Tweek say to you?”

“He asked me to babysit you since you keep worrying about him,” Clyde explained. He high-fived Tricia when she laughed about him saying “babysit”. “He’s just getting groceries, dude. How much trouble could he get in?”

Craig folded his arms and leaned back on the couch. “I’m not worried about him getting into trouble. He’s under a lot of stress, so I don’t want him to break down while I’m gone.”

“Stress? Why?”

“The game, obviously,” Craig explained, making sure to avoid bringing up the backyard incident. “He’s trying to keep himself under control, remember?”

Clyde fell silent. Of course he remembered his fight with Tweek, and he regretted many of the things he had said, but he stood by his defense of Token and Jimmy. Still, if Tweek was trying to be a better, more considerate person, who was he to stand in his way?

“Well, anyway… I’m here to entertain, so play the movie, and I’ll give commentary!”

“Seriously?” Craig sighed. “Go sit over there and soak your own sweater with tears and snot.”

“Dude, this part will make you cry. Like, you think he doesn’t really care about her, but then when he kills her—”

Craig took a pillow off of the couch and smothered Clyde’s face with it.

* * *

**11/09/2018 09:23 PM [Main Street, Outside]**

“Hello, Tweek Tweak,” Red greeted, mentally questioning why he has that name. “Detective Marshall and Detective Daniels, South Park Police Department. We’ve met before since you’ve been to the station to meet with Chief Testaburger. We need you to come with us. She needs to speak with you again.”

Tweek blinked at them in confusion, unsure of how to respond. He looked behind him, hoping they were actually talking to someone else, but nobody was there. Obviously not, considering how they approached him specifically and used his name, but a boy could hope.

Then it hit him. They weren’t arresting him, but Kenny could’ve hinted about the bodies to Wendy, who was now asking him to see her. Instead of texting him to come down, she sent her top two detectives to bring him over for the sole reason of making sure he comes. There were too many red flags. This was dangerous. He might just get arrested.

Then again, there was no proof that he was the one who killed those two people. As Craig said, it takes several years for a body to decompose into a skeleton, so it couldn’t be him. Maybe these two used to live in this house, and they were just buried in the yard when they died.

He shuddered at the thought of living in a house people had possibly died in, but he quickly regained focus on the task at hand. He hasn’t responded in almost a minute. He probably looks suspicious.

“Uh… Can I know what for?”

“A murder took place in the woods about a week ago, and you and your friends were spotted there shortly after the crime took place,” Nichole explained, looking over the information written on her notepad. “We’re bringing you all in one by one for questioning.”

It was clear that she was referring to Clyde’s dad. The details of the incident were only known completely by Clyde, so he wasn’t sure whether to suggest that they question him first. Of course, if they suspected him, he’d want to clear his name immediately. Clyde wouldn’t be able to fully explain the involvement of diaries with Wendy, so it would be better if he spoke with Wendy in Clyde’s place.

Then again, Craig would be a better person to ask, seeing how he had a diary full of important details, _and_ he was closer to Clyde when it happened. But at the moment, Craig was at home. He even told Clyde to watch him. Surely, he could handle Wendy interrogating him on his own.

“Okay…” he says cautiously as he sends a quick text to Craig.

 **Tweek:** These detectives are taking me to talk to Testaburger about Clyde’s dad’s murderer. I’ll be careful, so don’t worry about me.

* * *

**11/09/2018 09:28 PM [Tucker Residence, Living Room]**

Believing it to be his duty to take Craig’s mind off of Tweek, Clyde swiped away Craig’s phone the second his notification tone went off. When he saw Tweek’s message however, he jumped from his seat.

“Whoa, seriously?! They’re gonna find the guy who killed him?!”

“What are you talking about?” Craig asked. “Was that Tweek? Did he text me?” He stood to take his phone back, but Clyde kept it away from him.

“Hey, isn’t it kinda weird how they didn’t question _me_ first? Like, his own son?”

Craig snatched the phone back and read the text.

“Wait a minute… I thought you said your dad’s body disappeared?”

“Yeah, it did,” Clyde replied. “Right in front of me.”

Craig sat back down and re-read the text. Both Clyde and Tricia peeked over his shoulder to read it as well, though they didn’t know what Craig was thinking so hard about.

“If his body disappeared, then why do they think he was murdered? They wouldn’t be able to see how he was killed, much less know that he was killed in the first place…”

“Now that I think about it, I don’t know how I’d be able to explain someone disappearing to a detective,” Clyde realized. “They wouldn’t believe me.”

“No, Testaburger would believe you,” Craig explained. “She’s a user too, and she’s the one Tweek will be talking to, which means…”

Craig pulled up his diary while the others shoved their faces into his personal space.

 **09:34 PM [Main Street, Outside]  
** Clyde and Tricia come with me to the police station.

 **09:50 PM [Park County Police Department, 1st Floor]  
** The man at the front desk won’t let us talk to Testaburger without a good reason.

 **10:02 PM [Park County Police Department, 1st Floor]  
** The red-haired detective said Tweek was just arrested for attempted assault against Testaburger.

“Shit, seriously?!” Craig panicked, standing so quickly that he almost hit both Tricia and Clyde with his shoulders. “I’ve gotta get down there!”

“Diary says I’m coming too, so you can’t stop me,” Tricia grinned as she slipped her phone into her pocket and walked out the front door. “Hope Tweek’s okay, though…”

“It says I’m coming too!” Clyde announced as he followed Tricia.

Craig shook his head, but he figured that he might be able to slip inside the station with their help.

* * *

**11/09/2018 09:38 PM [Park County Police Department, 3rd Floor, Interrogation Room]**

Tweek looked down at the bar protruding from the table. If he was in handcuffs, his arms would certainly be wrapped around it, preventing his escape. He had no intention of assaulting Wendy, so he was glad that she trusted him enough to keep his wrists free.

Across the table was where Wendy sat. There was a small stack of files to her right, all with a large red confidential stamp on the cover. Tweek watched as she scrolled through her phone and believed that she was looking at her diary entries, but he didn’t know for sure.

“You wanted to ask about the man in the woods, huh?” Tweek asked, trying to be as civil as possible. “Do you know who he is?”

“Yes. Roger Donovan. My diary knows all about it. Mostly.”

“So what else do you know about him?”

“He went missing on October 9th of this year, leaving his only son without someone to take care of him. Normally, there would be desertion charges against him, but I held it off for a while to investigate more. I could tell from the start why he left.”

Tweek’s eyes widened in surprise as he looked around the room. “You spoke with Clyde already?”

“No, and he’s not waiting on the other side of that window, if that’s what you’re wondering,” Wendy explained. “Roger Donovan left his business in the hands of his most trusted employee, manager Millie Larsen, after explaining that he was going on a three-month long trip. Coincidentally, that’s the same time span of the game, and he left only a few days after Heidi Turner’s attack on your high school. See where I’m going with this?”

“You know he’s a user then?”

“Yes, exactly. Your battle with Third may have struck fear into him, but Turner’s little stunt pushed him over the edge. He dropped everything and hid in the woods to protect himself.”

As she spoke, Wendy continued scrolling down on her phone. Tweek wished she did so with the phone on the table so he could see too, but he could tell that she was holding it the way she was for a reason. A very suspicious reason.

“Do you know who killed him?” Tweek asked. “Those detectives brought me here because they said we were suspects, but I can tell you right now what happened, and I didn’t do it.”

“Oh, it wouldn’t matter anyway. His diary was cracked. No surveillance cameras, no body, no evidence. Donovan is no longer on this Earth, and I know this because I had Detective Marshall and Daniels investigate the cabin once they spotted a car—you and your friends—speeding out of the area. There was no body to be seen, but there was can of tear gas on the floor when they arrived. Either he was kidnapped, which is unlikely, or his phone was broken, which would cause him to disappear. It’s a hassle trying to put that in a report, so I’ve been making this my personal project. Recovering diaries, that is. I’ll ask the Donovan boy, since he was the last one at the scene.”

“Why didn’t you ask Clyde first? Instead of me, I mean.”

“I don’t know how much he knows about the diaries. I planned to have both you and Tucker here, but we found you without him, so I had you brought here to ask about that. You’re never without Tucker. Why the sudden change?”

Tweek was silent for a moment. If she didn’t ask any further questions, he could get away with just saying that he’s doing this as a way to gain Craig’s trust without clinging to him all the time. He didn’t have to bring up all of the events that led up to it. Plus, she didn’t seem to know about the bodies in his backyard, so he won’t bring it up.

“I’m, uh… I worry too much about his safety. I wanted to get groceries on my own without worrying about whether he was going to be attacked, but I was still worried, so I made sure he stayed at home. Clyde and his sister are watching him. I believe in him, and I’ll make sure that he can believe in me… to not get into any trouble, that is.”

“So you came here to speak with me alone,” Wendy clarified. “Me, someone you hate.”

Tweek pressed his lips together and leaned back in his chair, his hands gripping onto his thighs.

“I wouldn’t say ‘ _hate’_ as much as someone I distrust, but… yeah. If I can make this exchange as civil as possible, I’d say I was successful today.”

“I see,” Wendy chuckled. “Anyway, it’s become increasingly difficult to gather information on Turner when all of the users that have surfaced are dead, aside from you and Tucker.”

She placed five diaries on the table, all cracked. Third’s phone, which Tweek remembered knocking out of his hand and onto the floor with a rusty pipe. Wendy’s own phone, which she lied next to Third’s. Ike’s phone, which Tweek knew Craig broke, but he wasn’t able to determine the method based on the way the screen was cracked. Chaos’s tablet, which has a crack right in the middle from when he hit it with the metal on his glove. Then there was Twelfth’s phone, which Tweek told Kenny to break. Wendy turned on every device, which revealed the content in all of the diaries. Though they were difficult to see through the cracks, it was still possible to get information from them.

“I spoke with Turner the other day. I figured that she would just refuse to end the game, so I came with a different question.”

She scrolled to the top of every diary, revealing an ominous one-word message on everyone’s first entry, 12:00 AM on September 30, 2018.

 **12:00 AM [Main Street, Outside]  
** First

 **12:00 AM [Testaburger Residence, My Room]  
** The

 **12:00 AM [My House, Kyle’s Room]  
** For

 **12:00 AM [Stotch Residence, Basement]  
** Out

 **12:00 AM [My House, Garage]  
** Make

“Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, and Twelfth. Those are the diaries, plus mine, that I’ve been able to recover, and they all have a single-word entry for their very first entry. I noticed mine as soon as my diary was activated, and I’ve been thinking about how strange it was ever since. I didn’t think of checking if everyone else had the same kind of entry until I saw that Garrison’s diary…” Wendy turned Third’s phone around to face Tweek. “...was able to still turn on. The diary feature works fine, I mean. Everything else is inaccessible. What did you hit this thing with?”

“A pipe…” Tweek answered, questioning whether he should ask why she mentioned Garrison. He thought the man was strange, but it never occurred to him that he would be a serial killer, especially one that would target Craig.

“You faced a serial killer with a pipe? Interesting,” Wendy grinned, taking another look at the damaged phone. “That aside, I’d like to see your phone. There might be a message at the top as well.”

“Uh… wait one second,” Tweek replied, scrolling to the top of his entries quickly as to not expose his recent adventures. He then tilted his head to the side, confused as to why he wasn’t seeing anything interesting. When he handed Wendy the phone, she was confused as well, though she stayed silent.

“It just says that Craig is sleeping,” Tweek pointed out.

Wendy sighed as she placed a hand to her forehead. “It’s gotta be some kind of puzzle. Of course they would do something like that.” She handed Tweek back his phone, which he slipped back into his pocket.

“They?” Tweek wondered.

“Heidi Turner and Eric,” Wendy explained, handing Tweek’s phone back to him. Noting Tweek’s confused expression, she continued her explanation. “The god’s name is Eric, or that’s what he calls himself. Anyway, about these messages… What do you think it means?”

“You think I would know? She’s always messing with me too. She tries to kill Craig to provoke me one day, then she saves Craig but leaves me to die. Oh, and the other day, Clyde said she spoke with his dad, and we think she was trying to set him and Clyde against us!”

Wendy waited for Tweek to regain his composure before speaking up again.

“So she does speak with the other users… Do you know what she said to Roger Donovan exactly?”

“No. He was vague with Clyde too, I think. Craig and I just guessed that she was involved because Clyde overheard his dad saying something about a woman speaking to him about allies. Doesn’t that sound like something Heidi would do?”

“Yes, it does,” Wendy replied, leaning back in her chair with her arms folded across her chest. “I remember Eric telling Tucker to choose his allies wisely the day he gathered us all at the Cathedral.”

* * *

**09:45 PM [Park County Police Department, Outside]**

Once Craig, Clyde, and Tricia arrived at the station, they peeked through the small windows to see a large man sitting behind a desk with a pizza. Right under the lid of the box, Craig could see the man’s gun.

“Alright, here’s the plan,” Craig said, pulling out his diary. “Clyde, this guy will probably leave the area if you lure him out with pizza. Say you’re a delivery man, then try to lead him outside by saying that the order is so big that he’ll have to pick it up himself. Try and take him down the street, then pretend that your car got stolen, but they can’t file a report because you crashed your car and have been secretly using your dad’s car to make deliveries.”

“That’s a lot to fucking remember, man!” Clyde whined. “And what makes you think that he’ll believe I’m a pizza guy?”

“Don’t worry,” Tricia assured, holding up her phone. “I just texted you everything that he said. Also, you’re wearing a red polo shirt. I’d believe it.”

“Great. Now this is what will trigger the static sound to go off on Tweek’s phone, since this part wasn’t in my diary,” Craig explained. “Tricia, once the guard leaves, you’ll go inside and fake a story to distract them. I can’t think of one right now, so please tell me you’re good at winging it.”

“I can do that,” Tricia answered.

“Wait, why can’t we just do that?” Clyde asked. “Like, I might mess up my part.”

“If I go in with Tricia, they’ll notice if I disappear. I’m supposed to sneak in once everyone is distracted.”

Though Clyde didn’t fully understand, he nodded as if he did. He read Tricia’s text again and again to make sure he understood his part of the plan.

“Okay, Trish. We’ll wait for Clyde and the guard to come outside, then we’ll go in.”

“Ooookay,” Clyde sighed. He took a deep breath to prepare himself, then read the text one last time. “Alright, let’s do this!”

He walked through the door, then immediately forgot his lines.

“Can I help you?” the guard asked, his eyes focused on his pizza.

“Pizza!” Clyde suddenly remembered. “Uh… pizza delivery in my car! It’s a large order, so I’ll need help getting it.”

“Oh, I’ve got you,” the guard grinned, hopping out of his seat while rubbing his hands together and leaving the building with Clyde.

As soon as the two walked outside, Clyde turned away from the siblings as they entered the building undetected. Tricia stood in front of the door to the office, waiting for Craig while he had his hand shoved into the small rectangular opening in the window.

 _Hope it doesn’t come to this,_ Craig prayed as he swiped the gun from under the pizza box and slipped it into the inside pocket of his jacket after switching on the safety. “Story ready?” he whispered to Tricia.

“Yeah, just give me ten seconds before coming in.”

Tricia undid her ponytail, replaced it with two high pigtails, then walked into the office. Once the officers took notice, she pulled out her best move: crocodile tears.  She hurried towards the back wall, directing the officers’ sight away from the doors.

“I… I can’t find my dad,” she sobbed, wiping tears from her eyes. “We were walking outside, and then he just disappeared! He won’t pick up his phone, either!”

“Hey, don’t worry, miss,” one of the officers assured. “Just tell us his name and what he looks like.”

Craig opened the door quietly and snuck inside, crouching low and staying as close to the walls as possible. He spotted the door to the stairs and quickly slipped inside without drawing any attention to himself.

As soon as he closed the door behind him, the static sound emitted from his phone. Luckily, no one was around when it happened, so he continued to walk up the stairs.

Then he ran into Kenny, or rather, he saw Kenny standing at the top of the stairs. Kenny was too busy texting to notice him by the door. Even so, Craig kept his eyes on him as he walked by, hoping he won’t question why he was here.

When the two crossed paths, Kenny grabbed Craig by the arm, startling him to the point where he almost grabbed the gun out of his coat pocket.

“Interrogation room is on the third floor, first door to the left. Can’t miss it,” Kenny instructed, his eyes never leaving his phone.

Craig checked his diary since he didn’t do so right when the entries changed.

 **09:55 PM [Park County Police Department, 3rd Floor, Hallway]  
** I hear a gunshot from the interrogation room.

“Be careful,” Kenny warned as he continued to walk past Craig and out the door.

Craig didn’t have time to question why Kenny was there, or why he was wearing his black Mysterion mask. He had a boyfriend to save from unwarranted arrest.

* * *

**11/09/2018 09:51 PM [Park County Police Department, 3rd Floor, Interrogation Room]**

The diary static noise echoed throughout the room, alerting Tweek.

“Don’t worry, it’s mine,” said Wendy. “I’ve managed to anger Heidi Turner, so she’s been after me for a while now. I’ll have to wrap this up.”

“Anger her?” Tweek questioned. He was surprised that it was possible to even do such a thing. “How did you do that?”

Wendy sighed, holding a hand to her head. “Let’s keep my personal mistakes out of this for now, alright? I’ll take care of it. No need to worry.”

Tweek nodded, but he couldn’t help but try and imagine an angry Heidi. Was she mad at Wendy for trying to stop the game? He didn’t think that would actually phase her.

“So, uh… I don’t know how to solve that puzzle unless we get everyone’s diaries,” he confessed.

Tweek pulled out his phone and stared at the lock screen for a moment, wondering why he hasn’t received a text from Craig in a while. He hoped to at least get an update on how he was doing, since he didn’t want to rely too much on his diary to practically spy on him.

“We can bring Craig here!” Tweek suddenly realized. “He’s really good with puzzles. Here, I’ll call him over.”

“Oh, there’s no need,” said Wendy. “I’ll figure this out on my own.”

“Are you sure? Craig and I can still help. Just let us know if you need anything.”

Wendy blinked curiously at Tweek’s words.

“You’re offering to help me? That’s very generous of you.”

“Yeah, well… I’m trying not to cause so much trouble all the time, so… I thought I’d start by helping you out.”

Tweek bit his lip nervously. He couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off about all of this, but he promised himself that he wouldn’t be so paranoid. He spent what felt like 15 to 20 minutes without trying to lash out at Wendy, so he was doing well.

“Wow, Tweak. You must have really grown from all of this,” Wendy smiled as she stood from her seat. “I really wish I could’ve spent more time with the new you. We could’ve been good friends if it wasn’t for this horrid game.”

“Could’ve?” Tweek questioned, unable to determine whether the meaning behind her words were regret or upcoming betrayal.

“I never planned on betraying you, but things have changed.”

Tweek scoffed as he stood up as well. Of course it was betrayal. It was just like Wendy said: they’re playing a horrid game, and even someone like her could fall victim to the reward. It disgusted him, thinking that she decides now that she wants to be a god.

“Of course… I never believed in you for a second…”

“It’s a killing game, Tweak. You can’t trust anyone.”

“I’m over here trying to keep myself under control, but you just had to be the bad guy and fuck everything up for me!” Tweek screamed, slamming his hands onto the table. “Well guess what, Testaburger? There won’t be any blood here. I’m coming straight for that phone!”

He leaped onto the table to grab Wendy’s phone, but she snatched it back and shoved it into the pocket inside of her blazer.

“Stay back!” she commanded, pulling her gun from under the table and shooting a single round at Tweek.

The bullet barely grazed his hair. It flew right past him and made a dent in the dark brick wall.

“Tweek, get down!” Craig ordered as he burst through the door and shot Wendy twice in her stomach and once on her left shoulder.

From the force of the bullet entering her shoulder, Wendy stumbled backwards into her chair, causing her to hit her head against it and fall onto the floor. While trying to regain focus, she held the wound in her hand and cried out in pain.

Without an escape route planned, the couple tried following Craig’s diary to make sure they don’t run into anyone. Wendy’s cries had her team heading straight for the interrogation room, which the boys have already ran a good distance away from.

“Chief!” Nichole cried out as she hurried over to Wendy’s side. “She needs medical attention! There are two bullets that have been stopped by her vest, but one has entered her left shoulder!”

“Nelson, patch up Chief Testaburger. Everyone else, come with me! You too, Daniels!” Red announced. “Suspect is Tweek Tweak, blond teenage boy. He’s not allowed to leave this building! Let’s move!”

The women charged out of the room and split into two teams, led by Red and Nichole respectively. Red’s team headed upstairs, only to be stopped by members of Yates’ team.

“Whoa, ladies,” a bearded man said, holding his hands up in front of him. “We can take it from here.”

“They shot _our_ chief,” Red hissed, trying to pass. “We’ll be the ones to deal with them.”

“It’s dangerous without your little leader,” the man replied, his voice as condescending as ever. “Let the big boys handle it.”

Upstairs, more gunshots were heard, followed by screams of terror and grunts of pain. Red pulled out her radio and held it to her mouth as she pushed the bearded man aside.

“Daniels, bring your team upstairs! Shots have been fired! I repeat, shots have been fired!”

* * *

**11/09/2018 10:09 PM [Park County Police Department, 4th Floor]**

Craig knew what he was doing. Shooting Wendy was a high-profile crime, and he damn well knew it, but there wasn’t enough guilt to make him turn himself in. Saving Tweek was his top priority, and he was glad that he was able to do so, but escaping a police department was incredibly difficult. It didn’t help that he had Tweek use his phone to navigate because he believed that there would be less casualties if the gun was in his hands rather than Tweek’s.

He was absolutely wrong. They stopped holding hands once they realized that it was both slowing them down and making them a bigger target, but with no set escape route, they were left with quick thinking for the diary static alerts. Craig didn’t understand how they weren’t running into more officers, but that was also a good thing, seeing how he wouldn’t be able to fend off so many people. He suspected that most of the officers aside from Wendy’s team had already left for the day.

At the next corner, Tweek felt his wrist being dragged into a nearby room. Craig followed suit, but when he entered, everything was dark, save for the small light peeking in from the door being opened just a crack.

“Don’t panic. It’s me,” someone whispered as they closed the door as slowly and quietly as possible.

Before the light completely disappeared, Craig caught a glimpse of a familiar shade of orange.

“Kenny?” he whispered. He took his phone back from Tweek and shined the light on Kenny’s face.

“We have to make this quick,” said Kenny. “I left the door slightly open until they left so they wouldn’t think you were hiding in here. When we get out, one of you will point a gun to my head, and we’ll start running. I’ll take you to the rooftop. You’ll land onto some garbage, but just bear with it until I text you that it’s safe.”

“Dude, this whole thing will be caught on camera, won’t it?” Tweek panicked through his whispers. “You’ll get fired for helping us escape if they watch the security footage!”

“Tweek, there’s not a single camera in this building,” Kenny explained as he gestured wildly with his hands. “They sold them all so that they wouldn’t be caught slacking off. This precinct is a fucking disaster and you know it. Now follow the plan! I’m trying to help you!”

Though reluctant, Tweek nodded and turned to Craig, who had the gun. Craig caught his eye, nodded back, then pointed the gun to Kenny’s head.

“Lead the way,” he said.

Kenny opened the door and started running in the direction Tweek and Craig came from, but they made a turn as soon as Nichole’s team was heard coming down the hallway.

“Roof is this way. Hurry!” Kenny whispered.

Nichole’s team spotted the boys and chased after them. She grabbed her radio and held it up to her mouth. “Tweek Tweak is accompanied by Craig Tucker! They have Mysterion at gunpoint and are using him to escape! They’re heading for the rooftop!”

As they ran, Tweek felt a hot bullet graze his right forearm. It didn’t pierce his skin, but the burning slowed him down momentarily.

“Run side to side when being shot at,” Craig advised, following his own advice while trying to keep the gun at Kenny’s head. “It’ll be harder for them to hit anything vital.”

“They’re getting closer!” Tweek warned as they made another turn.

As subtle as he could, Kenny tapped Craig’s leg with the handle of his gun. “Give this to Tweek,” he whispered to Craig.

“You want him to kill them?!” Craig questioned in a hushed tone.

“No, just disable them!” said Kenny. “Legs, arms, nothing vital!”

Craig took the gun and handed it to Tweek, making sure to relay the message and emphasizing on disable rather than kill.

“I won’t disappoint you!” Tweek smiled as he took the gun from Craig.

A wavy-haired woman popped up at the end of a connected hallway and shot two rounds at Tweek, only to miss twice. Tweek turned his head as he ran and shot two rounds as well. One missed and the other hit the woman’s hand, causing her to drop the gun and cry out, alerting the approaching detectives.

“Disabled or dead?” Craig asked.

“Disabled!” Tweek answered, proud of himself. He quickly realized how horrible it sounded for him to be excited about shooting someone and regretted doing so.

The group finally reached the rooftop, and Kenny shut the door behind them, his back pressed against it.

“Shoot me right here, then jump!” Kenny instructed, tapping the back of his calf. “I need them to think I couldn’t chase after you!”

“What?!” Craig questioned. “I’m not going to shoot you in the leg! Besides, my aim isn’t _that_ good!”

“Just do it, dude! It’s a low caliber bullet! I’ll be fine, so hurry!”

Tweek went ahead and shot Kenny where he asked, but he made sure to only graze his flesh. Though he wasn’t in terrible pain, Kenny exaggerated the damage and fell to the floor, right in front of the door.

Craig grabbed Tweek’s hand. “You ready?” he asked, briefly looking down at the dumpster filled with garbage bags four stories below.

Nodding, Tweek squeezed Craig’s hand, and together they jumped off of the roof. As Kenny planned, they landed into the garbage unscathed, though the stench was something they were going to have to tolerate for the time being.

Both of their notification tones went off, prompting the boys to check their phones.

 **Kenny:** shooting me was a last second idea. you’ll have to run now bc they’ll be here in a few seconds. go through the back and hide out somewhere

“Hurry, let’s go home!” said Tweek.

“No, they’ll find us there,” Craig pointed out. “We have to find a place to hide. Turn off your phone so they can’t track you and let’s go!”

“Is someone there?” Clyde asked, using the flashlight on his phone to illuminate the alleyway.

“If it’s Craig, don’t say anything,” Tricia whispered. “The police are after him and Tweek, so don’t give them away. Turn the light off and let’s go. I gotta get groceries.”

“Thanks, Trish,” Craig whispered as he and Tweek climbed out of the dumpster. “Now, where the fuck should we go…”

Tweek thought for a moment. They needed somewhere to hide that didn’t have people in it, no alarms to trigger, and food to eat. Preferably someplace abandoned. He knew just the place.

* * *

**11/10/2018 05:38 AM [Tweek Bros Coffee House, Stock Room]**

The store was unable to be sold because no one wanted to buy a building used to sell drugs, so Tweek’s rehabilitation bills were paid by selling the family car. Fortunately for Tweek and Craig, this was a good temporary hideout, since much of the store’s supplies were still in place.

Tweek awoke on a bag of expired coffee beans. He noticed Craig’s sweater draped over him, so he took it off and placed it on Craig. He then placed a quick kiss to his forehead, but Craig didn’t stir. He was fast asleep.

After years of avoiding drinking the coffee in his parent’s shop, Tweek was able to come up with various ways to get past his father’s taste test chore by hiding instant coffee in secret holes in the walls. There were also snacks in case he was tired of drinking coffee, but after two years, they’ve all become stale. He pulled a granola bar out of the hole and tried to take a bite out of it, but it nearly broke his teeth. He continued to eat it anyway, since one can’t be too picky when they’re a fugitive.

Still on the ground, Craig awoke and stared at the ceiling as his eyes tried to adjust to the light. He could hear Tweek approaching with granola bar wrappers crinkling in his hands.

“Sorry, babe,” Tweek apologized, kneeling down to Craig’s level and placing a granola bar beside his head. “They’re all stale, so try not to break your teeth.”

Craig stayed silent. He continued to stare at the ceiling rather than respond to Tweek.

“Um… Are you not feeling well?” Tweek asked. “Did you get hurt anywhere?” He lifted Craig’s jacket off of him and checked his arms and face for wounds. Afterwards, he began patting him down for a reaction.

Craig winced when Tweek touched a bruise on his chest. Before Tweek could panic, he quickly dismissed it as only a bruise and he lifted his shirt as proof.

“I’m fine, honey. Don’t worry.”

Tweek sighed and lied back down next to him on the bag of beans. Before he could put his hand on his chest, he stopped himself when he remembered the bruise, so he placed his hand on Craig’s bicep instead.

“We’ll have to get going again soon. This is the only place I could think of that we could hide in that wouldn’t be searched right away, so eat your stale granola bar and let’s go.”

When Tweek tried to sit up, Craig held him down by holding his hand. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath through his nose.

“I’m sorry I got us into this,” Craig sighed as he rubbed his thumb on Tweek’s hand. “I know you wanted me to stay home, but I got so worried about you, and I just…”

“Acted as I would’ve…” Tweek pointed out.

They both were silent for a moment, then Craig chuckled softly.

“Ironic, huh? That kind of behavior isn’t good for anyone then.”

“I mean, you didn’t have to shoot Testaburger and become a criminal,” said Tweek. “Then again, who am I to talk? I snapped when I found out she was betraying us.”

“Tweek, my diary said you would’ve been shot and arrested if I didn’t come,” Craig explained, pulling out his diary to show Tweek. “I planned to come down there when you texted me that you were going to the station, so I checked my diary. It said a detective would tell me that you were arrested for attempted assault.”

“Oh god… You thought I was gonna go crazy again, didn’t you?!” Tweek accused, standing up and backing away from Craig.

“No, babe!” Craig pleaded as he stood and walked over to Tweek. “I knew Testaburger had to be arresting you unfairly! I knew you were acting in self-defense!”

Tweek calmed down, but he didn’t say anything, so Craig continued.

“I know you’re doing your best to keep yourself under control. Hell, you agreed to talk to Testaburger without me! You even tried to break her phone _without_ hurting her, didn’t you?”

“How did you know?”

“Because I _know_ you, Tweek. I know you’re trying to stay out of trouble, and I believe in you. I’m always going to believe in you, no matter what you may think.”

Tweek wrapped his arms around Craig and pressed his face in his chest.

“You know… You can yell at me if I’m doing something wrong. You always try to act so calm around me. It makes me feel like you’re trying not to upset me.”

Craig pat the back of Tweek’s head, entangling his fingers in the blond’s messy, unwashed hair.

“We’ve been together for seven years, dumbass. Actually, eight years now. Do you know how fucking hard to get you to listen to me when you’re worked up?”

Tweek couldn’t even deny that fact. Whenever he was angry or afraid, the world around him begins to blur, and sounds become faint. He could only hear his own screaming and a word or phrase from whoever’s speaking here and there, which he chooses to respond to. Selective hearing, as Craig described it, which happened to strain their relationship often when they were younger.

A knock on the other side of the locked stock room door startled the couple. The person on the other side didn’t say anything, but they continued to knock.

Craig pulled away from Tweek and pointed to a ladder leading to the rooftop. The two hurried over and climbed up the ladder without a word. Tweek, who was on top, pushed the trapdoor slightly and scanned the area to make sure no one was up there. With the coast clear, he climbed onto the rooftop, but stayed on his stomach as he pulled himself across the floor to reach the edge.

“Craig, how will we get down from here?” Tweek called out softly, but when he turned around, he was met with an annoying presence.

“Agh, seriously?!” Craig groaned, though he realized too late that he had spoken too loudly. His head was barely peeking out from under the trapdoor.

“Should’ve answered the door,” said Heidi. “Anyway, I’m gonna help you defeat the Fourth.”

Despite not trusting her in the slightest, the boys found Heidi’s unamused tone and facial expression to be highly unusual, which made them want to at least ask why she had come.

“Not that I trust you, but she’s got her whole squad after us, so you better have a damn good plan,” Craig huffed. He was still standing on the ladder with his head poking out.

“Cut the tough act, Second,” Heidi spat, folding her arms. “The Fourth has been pissing me off lately, so I’m going to help you two take her down. I’ll start by showing you why she betrayed you two in the first place.”

 _“What do you think?”_ Tweek silently gestured by looking at Craig, then Heidi, then back at Craig.

 _“Kinda wanna know why she’s so pissed.”_ Craig silently responded with a shrug, a look towards Heidi, and a nod.

“Alright, enough of that,” Heidi said, rolling her eyes. She levitated both Tweek and Craig and flew them over to Hell’s Pass Hospital.

“By the way...” Tweek spoke up as he floated through the sky. “Testaburger was showing me a message from the diaries of the users that are dead now… What do you know about it?”

“It’s just a puzzle, but that’s a conversation for another time,” Heidi replied without looking back. “Honestly, I’m not in the mood for even my _own_ jokes right now.”

Tweek dropped the subject for the time being. Now he _really_ wanted to know what Wendy did to her.

They arrived on the fourth floor, right in front of room 408. Craig peeked through the small window in search for Wendy.

“Is Testaburger in there?” Tweek asked, trying to peek inside as well.

“No. It’s just some blonde chick sleeping,” Craig answered. “She’s got one of those masks on.”

* * *

**11/07/2018 11:21 AM [Hell’s Pass Hospital, 4th Floor, Room 408]**

Wendy made it a habit to visit the hospital as often as she could, and every time she went, she left her level-headed nature behind. The day she found out that Bebe was trying— _and failing_ —to cure her heart failure with at-home methods, she was devastated. It had reached a point where Bebe had to be admitted into a hospital just so someone could keep an eye on her if anything were to happen.

Right as Wendy approached Bebe’s room, two nurses rushed past her. From the other side of the door, Wendy could hear Bebe’s heart monitor beeping wildly. When the panicked Wendy tried to enter the room, she was told to wait outside. She tried to enter anyway, but she had no luck, as another nurse tried to stop her again.

During her second attempt at sneaking inside, she was stopped by Heidi, who appeared right in front of the door.

“Hey, Fourth!” Heidi greeted. “Not with Seventh today?”

“What the hell do you want?” Wendy hissed, trying to get past Heidi. “I’m busy right now!”

“No one else can see me right now but you, so try not to make a fool of yourself,” Heidi advised. She called out to a group of doctors nearby as proof, and they paid her no mind. “Anyway, I’m going to make you an offer you can’t refuse.”

Wendy huffed, folding her arms in front of her chest. “Like I’d believe anything you’d say—”

Heidi opened the door and walked past the nurses and doctors. With the wave of her hand, she stabilized Bebe’s heart rate, confusing the medical staff present. They all commented on how unusual the situation was while Heidi returned to Wendy’s side.

“...what did you…”

“You know how humans administer drugs to treat someone ill, but it’s only a temporary fix because their technology hasn’t advanced enough to completely cure a specific disease? It’s like that,” Heidi explained.

Wendy looked over at Bebe, who’s heart monitor had returned to its normal state. Puzzled, she squinted to make sure she wasn’t imagining it, but everyone by Bebe’s side seemed to be seeing the same thing.

“Her heart failure has been halted for now, but I didn’t cure her,” Heidi continued. “That’s where my offer comes in.”

Though conflicted on whether to stay to watch Bebe or leave to talk to the invisible Heidi, Wendy settled on staying. She didn’t care that she might get strange looks for talking to nobody. She needed to know what Heidi was up to.

“You can’t keep a promise,” Wendy claimed in a hushed tone. “I don’t trust you. You’ll have me try and complete a task, but then you’ll revoke the offer and kill her before I complete it. Is that right?”

“Hmm… I kinda wanted you to do this task for me, though. If I killed her too soon, I won’t be able to see you do what I want you to do.”

Wendy scoffed. “I’d rather let nature do its course,” she claimed, even though she didn’t like the way it sounded when she said it. “I’ve already prepared myself for this, anyway.”

“Is that so?” Heidi grinned. She held up her hand, then formed a fist.

“Wait, what are you—”

From her bed, Bebe grunted in pain and began breathing heavily. Her heart monitor started beeping again, which alerted the staff, who were just about to leave.

Wendy stared at the scene in terror, shaking with both her teeth and her fists clenched. “What do you _want?!”_ she whispered harshly through clenched teeth.

“For you to defeat First and Second,” Heidi replied with a skip in her step. “I don’t care how you do it. I just want it done by the end of the week.”

Again, Wendy looked at the suffering Bebe, feeling immense regret for being the current cause of her pain. “I… I made an alliance with them…”

“You’ll still have Seventh. I’m sure he’ll be happy to continue doing your dirty work for you. You know, seeking out users, collecting diaries...”

“That’s not what I—”

“You really want to waste time arguing?” Heidi pointed out, gesturing towards Bebe with a head tilt.

Wendy clenched her fist tighter, letting out a strangled sigh. “Fine… I’ll… defeat First and Second...”

“It’s a deal!” Heidi cheered, clapping her hands together. That motion ended Bebe’s suffering, which returned her heart monitor back to normal again. Bewildered by the chain of events, one of the nurses stuck around to keep an eye on her.

“Why do you want them dead anyway? I thought they were your favorites.”

“I like them. I really do,” Heidi confessed. “It’s just that at this rate, they’ll be doing all the work. I suspect that the other users are in hiding because they’re running around, and those two don’t actively seek out other users, so that’s no fun.”

Wendy sighed. She was quiet for a long moment as she stared at Bebe, who finally had a break from her suffering. “That does sounds like something that would annoy you.”

“It sure does! So, since you’ve agreed to kill them for me, I’ll halt that disease of hers for the time being.”

“For the time being, huh?”

“Up until you’ve defeated them. Then it’s back in nature’s hands.”

Suspicious, Wendy stared at Heidi’s face for any signs of faltering, but she was unsuccessful. That woman had the best poker face she had ever seen, and it mocked her since the day they met. “...there has to be a way to make you keep your promise."

“Hey now…” Heidi pouted, placing her hands on her hips. “I already told you that I’ll—”

“Maybe I’ll use _that…_ ”

Heidi raised a questioning eyebrow, but she wasn’t going to give Wendy the satisfaction of seeing her react with anything other than a deceptive smile. “Trying to intimidate me with a fake secret or something? You’re so silly, Fourth.”

Wendy hummed as the nurse watching Bebe left the room to respond to another patient. She walked inside and shut the door behind her, then walked over to stand beside Bebe’s bed.

“You think I didn’t notice anything the last time we’ve spoken?” she replied in a normal tone. “The _real_ reason you’re so fixated on Tweak and Tucker, perhaps?”

She didn’t want to show it, but Wendy’s comment had Heidi stunned into silence momentarily. “You’re clearly bluffing, but I’ll allow you to entertain me with your theory.”

“When we first met, I asked the boys what you wanted from them, assuming that you were after their diaries,” Wendy began. “After learning of your apparent obsession with wanting to create a game that was as entertaining as possible for your master to watch, I realized that their diaries weren’t your target, since there wouldn’t be much drama from killing users yourself. You wanted Tweak to betray his friends to save Tucker. You enjoyed watching Tweak trick McCormick into defeating that drunk vigilante Twelfth. You purposefully told McCormick about Stotch’s feelings towards him to make his death more painful to bear. You saved Tucker from the gassed house, but not Tweak, just so you could watch him panic.”

“My love and I enjoyed watching those heart wrenching moments. Was my interest in drama your reason, because I thought that was obvious—”

“No, it wasn’t,” Wendy interrupted. “I was just proving a relevant point. The real reason you’re obsessed with those two, what you really wanted from them, was their relationship.”

“Their relationship?” Heidi questioned, baffled by her response.

“You created situations where those two would prove their love for each other because... the love between you and your master doesn’t exist—”  
  
“Don’t you **_DARE!!!_ ** _”_ Heidi screamed, summoning shadows of arms to restrain Wendy against the wall, much like the ones she used against Craig the day of her first attack.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this was so long, and sorry it took so long to upload! We’re reaching a point where things really start to pick up, so I need time to plan things out carefully. I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well, despite the length!


	12. Parts Included

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Long chapter again, but this time with more action! Enjoy!

**11/07/2018 11:32 AM [Hell’s Pass Hospital, 4th Floor, Room 408]**

A slow, quiet chuckle left Heidi’s lips. Soon enough, it became louder, quickly turning into full blown maniacal laughter.

Wendy accepted her fate silently, closing her eyes instead of watching Heidi taunt her. The shadows pushing her against the wall only restrained her, to her surprise. She believed Heidi would just outright kill her, seeing how she just reacted, but that wasn’t the case.

“Oh, Fourth. Things would’ve been fine if you just kept your mouth shut, but you just _had_ to go there, didn’t you?” Heidi smiled sweetly, but her aura was pitch black, just like the shadows she had summoned. “I didn’t want to have to do this, but even I have my limits. Maybe I’ll wake your girl over there to watch you die, just to add to the suffering…” 

Heidi ended her threat once she noticed that Wendy appeared unconscious, which she found strange, since she wasn’t trying to kill her. She walked towards her to get a better look at her face and saw she was still breathing.

“What are you doing, Fourth? Playing dead to avoid the pain? Wake up,” she demanded, snapping her fingers in front of Wendy’s face.

Finally, Heidi realized Wendy’s plan. She returned to the cathedral immediately, retracting her shadows and allowing Wendy’s body to fall to the floor in the hospital room.

“Hello, Eric,” she heard Wendy say behind her. “I’d like to speak with _you_ this time.”

“Oh? This is a surprise,” Eric smiled, leaning back in his chair with his hands folded on his lap. 

“Darling, wait!” Heidi cried out, flying over to Eric and placing her hands on his shoulder. “I don’t know what she plans to do, but I’m sure it’s a lie! She’s been spouting a lot of lies today!”

“I need your help to defeat First and Second,” Wendy explained, confusing Heidi into staying silent.

“What did you have in mind that you would need the help of a god?” Eric wondered. He turned to Tweek and Craig’s screen for a moment to see what they were up to, but they were just eating lunch at their school’s cafeteria. “I’d much rather have you surprise me with the tricks you have up your sleeve. Human tricks, of course.”

“Yes, but it seems like I’ll need interference to stop a god,” Wendy replied, turning to Heidi with a smile.

Catching Wendy’s smile, Eric eyed Heidi as well, causing her to fake an innocent smile of her own. “Oh?” he said, though he was unable to determine the sincerity of Heidi’s smile.

“You see, Heidi and I made a deal,” Wendy pointed out, her eyes never leaving Heidi. “She won’t kill my friend if I defeat First and Second. I want her to hold up her end of the deal, so that’s where you come in.” 

“You plan to fight First and Second? Now that’s a fight I want to see!” Eric claimed, his powerful tone echoing across the cathedral. “If that’s the case, then you have my support. She’s a very obedient lover, so she will definitely fulfill any of my wishes. I want to see a grand fight, and I know you’ll be perfect for the job.” He placed a hand on Heidi’s chin and gently pushed it to the side so she would face him. “You’ll keep your word, won’t you, dear?”

“Of course, my love,” Heidi replied, forcing herself to continue smiling. “Anything for you, but...”

Eric raised an eyebrow. He wanted to know if she was planning to disobey him or add an interesting factor to their deal. Wendy on the other hand sent a glare in Heidi’s direction.

“I’ll change up my bargaining chip just a little. If you don’t kill First and Second by the end of the week… I’ll have you watch your friend die, then I’ll kill you. I’ll make a scene out of your death, too. It’ll really destroy the morale of your little group.”

“Ooh, how sadistic! I love the way you think, my dear,” Eric grinned, placing a hand on Heidi’s cheek.

Finding no way out of this situation, Wendy cursed under her breath. Testing the limits of a supernatural being ended up making things worse, but it’s not like Heidi’s new proposal was completely different from the original terms. She just has to defeat Tweek and Craig, that’s all.

She just has to destroy her alliance. She just has to kill them without getting arrested. She just has to find a reason to kill them that would be acceptable in the eyes of justice.

That’s all.

* * *

**11/10/2018 06:02 AM [Hell’s Pass Hospital, 4th Floor, Room 408]**

It felt uncomfortable being in a room with a sleeping, hospitalized stranger, especially after finding out that this particular stranger was the reason for their ally’s betrayal.

“Looks like Clyde’s type,” Craig notes, unable to process the information he was just given.

“To think Testaburger wants to become a god just to save her friend…” said Tweek. “I… kinda feel bad for her now…”

“I still think it’s a selfish reason to become a god,” Heidi explained. “She’s trying to kill the two of you just so she can win the game and save her friend. You were supposed to be in an alliance.”

Heidi tried to suppress the smile that tugged on her lips. The oblivious couple had no idea of the gaps in her story and the misinformation she fed them. They knew nothing of her involvement in Wendy’s motive, and she was going to keep it that way.

“She betrayed us,” said Craig. He turned to Tweek to see how he was handling the situation, but Tweek looked lost. “But how will we go against her? She has the police department on her side, and enough time has passed for her to call a huge squad to take us down. The chances of us getting out of this alive are way too low.”

Tweek looked at Bebe again. She slept quietly, unaware of the three strangers standing in her room and plotting the death of her best friend. Bebe was important enough for Wendy to not only turn on them, but also make her want to kill all the remaining users just to become God and save her.

“Just like me…” Tweek realized. “She’s turning on everyone just to save the person she loves…”

“Tweek, honey, this is not the time to feel sympathetic. Testaburger wants to kill us,” Craig reminded him. He turned back to Heidi, who was giving an unamused look at Bebe. “Anyway, you said that you would help us defeat Testaburger. How?”

“I’m not sure what ‘direct interference’ constitutes as, but I have a feeling that it means that I can’t directly kill anyone. What I do know is that I can give you supplies so that you can stand a chance.”

She held out her hands, which contained two magazines tailored to the glocks the couple held onto during their escape from the station.

“It’s ammo, obviously. I can tell you right now that your current guns are only half loaded. Should’ve restocked when you had the chance.”

The boys took the magazines without question and slipped them into the front pockets of their jeans.

“She knows you’re in this hospital, by the way. Now that you’re criminals, her diary tells her that the two of you will soon be spotted here,” Heidi explained as she peered out the window. There were no signs of the police, much less Wendy herself. “It’ll be awhile before she gets to you two, so pick a good hiding place. The nurses will kick you out of this room soon enough, so I’d say you have ten minutes to come up with a plan.”

She placed two cylindrical grenades on the ground, then made her exit, but not before giving them a perky “good luck!” on her way out. The boys noted that her last words were much more in character.

Holding out his arm to keep Tweek behind him, Craig carefully walked over and picked up the grenades. He examined them closely to see if there were instructions on them, but there weren’t any.

“Stun grenades,” Tweek explained, taking one from Craig’s hand. “These are only meant to stun, not kill. You pull the pin and run, or else you’ll be knocked out.”

“I knew that,” Craig claimed. He pulled his gun out of his back pocket and held both that and the grenade in his hands as he tried to formulate a plan.

The boys didn’t notice Bebe wake up behind them. She was silent as she watched them stand and chat with their backs turned to her, but she didn’t know what they were saying, since they spoke in hushed tones.

“Hey,” she called out, startling the two of them.

Tweek turned around, shoved the grenade in his back pocket, then pulled his shirt over it. The slight bulge was noticeable to a curious bystander, but not obvious enough for them to guess what it was. Craig copied that motion, but he covered both the gun and the grenade with his jacket.

“Unless you’re here to drop off a gift, go find a different room to make out in,” she teased. From the way she was lying down, she couldn’t see what the boys were hiding, but she didn’t care enough to question it.

Craig pushed Tweek forward, hoping he would use his acting skills to come up with a story as to why they were in her room. Tweek stepped up to the task and thought up an excuse almost instantly.

“We have the decency not to make out in some stranger’s room,” he smiled back at her. “You looked like our friend, but when we got a closer look, we realized that your face was different. We’ve been standing here, trying to figure out where to find her, but it’s not exactly visiting hours, you see.”

Bebe grinned, happy to talk to someone new. “Sneaking around the hospital, huh? Brave. Wish I could do that, but removing and putting these IVs back in is so annoying,” she whined, holding up her arm to show the tube attached to it.

“Ew… I hate hospitals,” Tweek commented. He enjoyed speaking with someone that doesn’t look at him with judgmental eyes that say “I know what you’ve done”. “Before we got together, my boyfriend and I got into a fight because these kids tricked us into it. We both ended up in this same hospital because of it.”

“You two are adorable! I take it that it wasn’t love at first sight then?” Bebe laughed. “My best friend Wendy always got into fights too. She was big on serving justice, so that’s why she works as a detective now. Chief of Police, actually. Isn’t that amazing?”

Craig nudged Tweek and pointed to the door with a head tilt, but Tweek dismissed him with the wave of his hand.

“Funny that you say ‘best friend’,” said Tweek. “You speak so fondly of her, I would’ve thought she was your girlfriend or something.”

Bebe closed her eyes and hummed. “I’ve thought about it since my fiancé broke up with me because I’m kinda dying and all. Then again, even if she and I were to date, it would be short-lived. You know, since I’m dying and all. Heart failure is a bitch when you avoid the hospital for so long.”

In an attempt to get Tweek to leave, Craig grabbed his hand and tugged him in the direction of the door, but he made sure to keep their weapons out of Bebe’s line of vision. Instead of following however, Tweek dragged Craig with him to the edge of Bebe’s bed.

“You’re Bebe, aren’t you?” Tweek asked. “We know Wendy, actually.”

“Hm?” Bebe wondered, opening her eyes to face them. “Do you know her as a friend or as a detective?”

“Detective.” Tweek ignored Craig’s silent pleas for them to leave and continued. “Anyway, your name came up in conversation, and… I just wanted to tell you that she’s working hard to keep you alive.”

Bebe closed her eyes again and smiled as she faced the ceiling. “That’s reassuring to hear,” she said. “Thank you for telling me that.”

“Alright babe, we seriously have to go,” Craig announced, finally able to drag Tweek away from Bebe’s bedside. “Nice meeting you or whatever.”

“Hey, wait. What are your names?” she asked.

“It’s really best that you didn’t know,” Craig claimed. “Bye.”

Once the two left the room, Craig quickly scanned the area for a bathroom for them to hide in. He found a sign on the wall that directed them to the next hallway on the left, so they headed over with fast, light footsteps.

“Tweek, you shouldn’t have stayed to chat with her. You can’t be sympathizing with the enemy,” Craig warned as they entered the bathroom.

“Testaburger is our enemy, not her,” Tweek explained. “Besides, she’s dying. It felt good to give her hope.”

Craig placed his hands on Tweek’s shoulders and hung his head low as he let out a heavy sigh.

“Babe… I’m glad you’re starting to care more about the lives of other people, but…  we don’t have a plan to save our _own_ asses yet. Let’s just see what the diary has to say, and—”

Craig was cut off by a loud explosion from the lower floor, followed by the static sound emitting from both of their diaries. The boys held onto each other as the floor shook beneath them. After they both fell to their knees, Tweek opened the door to peek outside to see the damages, and Craig checked his diary.

 **11/10/2018 06:43 AM [Hell’s Pass Hospital, 2nd Floor, Hallway 2]  
** Tweek is killed by Fourth. 

 **11/10/2018 06:44 AM [Hell’s Pass Hospital, 2nd Floor, Hallway 2]**  
I am killed by Fourth.  
**—DEAD END—**  

From what Tweek could see, there was no damage to the floor they were on, but judging by the screaming hospital attendants from the floor below, there was no doubt that they were in danger.

“Was that Heidi? Was she actually trying to kill us?!” Tweek hissed. “From now on, we’ll never trust her for anything ever again!”

“Never mind that!” Craig whispered. He held his diary in front of Tweek and showed him their dead end flags. “We’ll die if we stay here, so we need to leave right now!”

From the end of the hall, the boys saw two security guards walking quickly in their direction. Despite them being far away, their voices were loud enough to hear in the empty hallway.

“If we see any guests, we have to ask for their names to see if they signed into the visitor log. If not, they’re a suspect for the recent explosion,” they heard one guard explain.

“Park County Police Department is on their way,” said the other guard. “Heard that the suspects shot Chief Testaburger and are now on the run. Think they might be the suspects for what happened here?”

After cursing quietly, Tweek closed the door and led Craig by the hand to hide in one of the bathroom stalls.

Craig checked his diary for hints of an escape route. He believed, or at least hoped, that if it’s not listed in the entries leading up to the dead end flag, it might be a good plan to try. Of course, he didn’t know the layout of the hospital too well, so finding an alternate escape route would prove to be a challenge once again.

The boys could hear someone walking towards the bathroom. Craig peered through the small gap in the stall and caught a glimpse of a guard uniform opening the door. He pulled Tweek close and whispered into his ear as softly and as quickly as he could while still being able to be understood.

“Alright, here’s the plan. You’ll try to sneak out, and he’ll turn around and catch you. When he asks for your name, I’ll cover his mouth, then you’ll knock him out. Ready?”

But before Tweek could answer, Craig held him by his cheeks and pressed their lips together.

“Excuse me, you two,” the guard called out as he knocked on the door. “You can’t be doing that in here.”

When Craig opened the door, Tweek hurried out of the stall with his face in his hands.

“I’m so sorry!” Tweek cried as he tried to leave the bathroom.

“Hold on,” said the guard. “We need your names first. Gotta make sure you signed the visitor log.”

“Huh? Oh, I should be on there,” said Tweek. “I’m Michael Tucker.”

As the guard pulled out a tablet to check the log, Craig covered his mouth from behind and bent him down to Tweek’s level. Tweek stepped forward and aimed his fist at the guard’s temple for an instant knockout.

Once the guard fell unconscious, Craig dragged their body into the handicapped stall and locked the door from the inside. Being too tall to slide under the bottom of the stall, he relied on upper body strength to pull him over it while Tweek caught him from the other side.

“Not only are we married now, but you changed your name to the guy I fake-cheated on you with?” Craig grinned.

“I couldn’t give him my real name, obviously,” Tweek explained, rolling his eyes. “Though for your sake, I probably shouldn’t have used Tucker. Either way, we should get going.”

Noting Tweek’s reddened knuckles from the recent attack, Craig held Tweek’s hand and rubbed his knuckles with his thumb as he pulled him close to the door. When the two peeked outside, the other guard was completely out of sight, blissfully unaware of what his partner had gone through.

“There’s no entry about us looking for a fire exit, so we’ll start with that,” Craig instructed, his hand on the door handle. “Walk behind me and stay close to the walls. Power walk, but don’t run. We can’t look suspicious, but we have to leave as soon as possible. Ready?”

Tweek nodded, putting the entirety of his trust on Craig’s plan. They slipped out of the bathroom and turned in the opposite direction from the other guard. Their diaries emitted the static, but Craig gave his to Tweek to read while he looked for the exit. With a quick glance, Craig saw a wall directory that showed an emergency exit being at the end of the hall.

“Still a dead end?” Craig asked, keeping his eyes locked on the exit.

“Yes, and I can hear the sirens getting louder. We gotta run!”

Craig began running towards the exit, crossing his fingers that they won’t run into anyone else. “What does it say about the emergency exit?”

“They’re watching the door on the first floor. Maybe we can get off—”

“Attention!” they heard Wendy call out from outside. They crouched down and looked through a window to see where she was, then spotted her in front of the hospital.

With her megaphone in hand, Wendy stood in front of a much larger squad, consisting of more than her original team of friends. “No one is to leave this building! It has been confirmed that the suspects are hiding in this very building! Officers will be dispatched immediately!” She walked over to a small group of officers that all jumped upon her arrival. “You three, go inside and relay the message to the hospital staff. No one is to leave this hospital until we catch Craig Tucker and Tweek Tweak.”

“Yes, Chief!” the three replied as they hurried off to complete their task.

“Chief, there are over a hundred patients and staff inside. We’re risking their lives by leaving them in a building that’s been bombed in the past hour,” Nichole explained, directing a worried glance towards the hospital. “Bebe’s in there too, remember?”

“Those two could easily escape while everyone is evacuating,” Wendy stated, her phone in her hand. “Go in there and apprehend them. When you capture them, let me know immediately. Do not kill them until I give my word.”

Without further question, Nichole brought a team of seven with her into the building. Red stayed put, eyeing Wendy carefully.

“I’m not questioning your leadership, but… if there were to be another bomb…”

“If there is, we’ll evacuate the building,” Wendy said, glancing at her diary for a moment before closing it. “But for the time being, we need to trap them inside. If there’s no response from Daniels in ten minutes, we’ll both go in there.”

Red glanced at Wendy’s phone from the corner of her eye, making sure not to be obvious about it. She knew that Wendy would use it during cases for note taking, so she was curious as to what kind of information was in it now. Was it something related to the capture of Tucker and Tweak? She was dying to know, but she was unsure about how to get the information she needed.

“Chief, may I see the notes you’ve taken on your phone?” Red asked cautiously. “I wanted to see if I could come up with a tactic that will ensure that we capture Tucker and Tweak. I believe that your notes could give us a clue, since you were the one who interrogated Tweak yesterday.”

Like Bebe, Red had been a long-time friend of Wendy’s, which meant that Wendy could easily sense her hidden intentions. However, she knew that what she was doing warranted suspicion, so she decided to not lash out at Red for it.

“What I have written on my phone won’t be of any use in this mission,” Wendy claimed, slipping her phone into her pocket. “But I’ll make sure this mission is a success.”

* * *

**11/10/2018 06:20 AM [Marsh Residence, Outside]**

Kyle stood outside Stan’s door, waiting for him to come out. Not only did he see the news of the hospital bombing only minutes ago, but he knew damn well that Stan was going to the hospital to see Wendy because of it, and he was going to make sure to stop him from doing so. 

When Stan opened the door, he jumped at the sight of Kyle standing on his porch with his arms folded across his chest. He got over the shock quickly, as he was determined to find Wendy, so he tried to walk around Kyle.

“It’s a bit early to go to school, don’t you think?” Kyle questioned as he blocked Stan’s path.

“Actually, I was thinking that we go and check out the hospital for a bit!” Stan suggested, trying to get past Kyle’s defenses. “Didn’t you see the news? Someone’s bombing the place!”

“You don’t care about that. You just want to see Testaburger,” Kyle accused, refusing to budge. “As you best friend, I’m not going to let her hurt you again, so I’m going to stop you from seeing her.”

“Kyle, come on! This is important! She might die! I have to help her!”

Kyle pushed Stan back inside his house and closed the door behind him.

“I’ll bet my life that this is a battle between users,” he hissed, holding Stan by the wrist to prevent his escape. “Heidi Turner is probably the one setting off explosions again. If we go there, we’ll die too. Is that what you want?!”

“Of course not, but I still have to help her!”

“ _No_ , Stan! She doesn’t want your help, remember? What, you think saving her life will make her love you? Don’t be ridiculous. You can’t love someone that will have to end up killing you because of some shitty game!”

At this moment, he wished that his diary was about Wendy so he could see if she was okay, but it wasn’t, so he was left with his gruesome imagination.

“There are _bombs_ involved, Kyle,” Stan glared, clenching his fists. “I swear, if she dies because you stopped me from saving her, then consider this friendship over.”

Kyle’s grip had already loosened when he faced Stan’s piercing glare, so Stan pulled his wrist away and hurried out the door without another word.

* * *

 **11/07/2018 04:48 PM [Main Street, Diner]**  

“Oh, you don’t… need my help anymore?” Stan asked, more confused than disappointed by Wendy’s words.

“I’m not saying that I _don’t_ need your help. I’m saying that you _shouldn’t_ help me anymore,” Wendy replied. She looked down while she spoke, not wanting to see the hurt in Stan’s eyes.

“I’m not trying to push you or anything, but… I don’t really understand what’s going on. I mean…” Stan looked around the diner and saw that all of the customers were immersed in their own conversations, but he still chose to speak in a lower tone just to be safe. “If you know that I’m a user, then why do you only ask Craig and Tweek for help with your cases? I mean, my diary is basically useless to you, but I’m sure I could still do stuff for you. Like during the Professor Chaos case, I could’ve helped with—”

“Especially _not_ with the Professor Chaos case,” Wendy corrected.

“Huh?”

Sighing heavily, Wendy leaned back in her chair. She pulled out her phone, scrolled to the entries from when that case was closed, then turned the phone to where it faced Stan. As he read, she scrolled to each important entry.

 **09/30/2018 04:30 PM [SoDoSoPa, 10th Floor Lofts]  
** [Case of Masked Serial Killer] Herbert Garrison has been defeated. The case is now closed. 

 **10/01/2018 03:21 PM [SoDoSoPa, 10th Floor Lofts]  
** [Case of Heidi Turner] The diary of the Third, Herbert Garrison, has been retrieved.

 **10/13/2018 01:59 AM [Abandoned Circuit City, 1st Floor]  
** [Case of Professor Chaos] Leopold Stotch is defeated, and the remaining minions are arrested. The case is now closed.

 **10/13/2018 01:59 AM [Abandoned Circuit City, 1st Floor]  
** [Case of Heidi Turner] The diary of the Sixth, Leopold Stotch, has been retrieved.

 **10/13/2018 02:02 AM [Abandoned Circuit City, 1st Floor]  
** [Case of Heidi Turner] The diary of the Twelfth, Randy Marsh, has been retrieved.

 **10/17/2018 11:10 AM [Tweak Residence, Living Room]  
** [Case of Ike Broflovski] Ike Broflovski has been defeated. The case is now closed. 

 **10/18/2018 10:42 AM [Tweak Residence, Living Room]  
** [Case of Heidi Turner] The diary of the Fifth, Ike Broflovski, has been retrieved. 

 **10/28/2018 06:03 PM [South Park Woods, South Side]  
** [Case of SPW Murders] Roger Donovan has been defeated. The case is now closed.

 **10/28/2018 06:48 PM [Park County Police Station, Outside]  
** [Case of Heidi Turner] The diary of the Tenth, Roger Donovan, has been retrieved. 

Stan placed the phone face down onto the table and held a hand over his mouth. He knew of their disappearances, but he never would have guessed that they were part of the game as well. Kenny’s depression the day of Butters’ disappearance… How could he have not realized it sooner? Even his father had mysteriously disappeared, too.

He flipped the phone over and looked again at the entries, particularly at the ones listing Ike as a victim and a suspect.

“If Ike was at Tweek’s House, then… Oh god… That means…”

“It was a battle between users,” Wendy whispered. “I’m not trying to sound heartless, but he did break into the house with the intention to kill, so I can’t say much to defend him.”

Stan bit his lip. She was right, and he couldn’t blame her for seeing the situation like this, but to think either Craig or Tweek killed his best friend’s little brother was painful to think about.

Then again, that’s not what he was worried about.

“It’s the rules of the game…” he recalled. “That’s… just how it is.”

“Exactly,” Wendy agreed. “It’s cruel, so that’s why I wanted to stop it.” 

Stan’s troubled expression didn’t go unnoticed. She could tell that something was on his mind, and he was keeping it from her. Her detective instincts wanted to probe, but she already had an idea as to what the problem could be.

“About… the last two entries…” Stan mumbled, avoiding eye contact by staring at the sugar packets at the edge of the table.

“Selling out your best friend won’t get me to change my mind,” Wendy claimed. 

"Huh?! No, that’s not… I wasn’t trying to, uh…”

Stan sighed in defeat. He folded his arms on the table and rested his chin on top of them.

“Oh, who am I kidding? He can see what I’m doing. He’ll kill me once he finds me later.”

“You’re referring to Broflovski’s ability, aren’t you?” Wendy wondered, giggling at the thought. “I take it both of you have the same ability as Tweak?”

“Okay, whoa. Tweek’s is like... low-key obsessive,” Stan tried to explain, though the blush on his cheeks betrayed him. “Mine isn’t obsessive. I made this just to record every stupid thing Kyle does just so I can use it against him later, and he did the same. Here, I’ll show you.”

He pulled out his phone and tried to find an entry about Kyle doing something embarrassing, but his jaw dropped slightly upon seeing what Kyle was currently doing. He rested his elbow on the table and propped his head up with his hand.

“Is he alright?” Wendy asked, peeking at the entries on Stan’s phone when he placed it face up on the table.

 **04:53 PM [Stark’s Pond]  
** Kyle keeps asking David why they broke up. He looks upset.

“See? He’s trying to get back with his ex,” Stan pointed out, his voice cracking. “Heh… What a stupid thing to do…”

Wendy hummed understandingly, pushing the phone back to Stan. She knew this wasn’t the best time to bring up his suppressed feelings, especially since she had already gotten off track from what she was trying to explain to him.

“I don’t plan to do anything to him, don’t worry,” she said. “I shouldn’t be saying this, but I’ll look the other way for you. Consider this my way of thanking you for everything you’ve done.”

“But I mean…” Stan looked at the other customers again, who were still chatting away. “Isn’t like… breaking and entering, attempted murder… Aren’t those crimes?”

“Do you want him to go to jail?” Wendy asked. “That’s pretty cruel as a best friend, but respectful in the name of justice.”

“H-he just wanted to avenge his brother!” Stan confessed loudly. A few heads turned his way, making him sink in his seat. “We didn’t know who could’ve possibly killed him, so when we discovered that there was a user hiding out in the woods, he just…”

“Stan, don’t worry about it, really,” Wendy assured. “I already said that I’ll look the other way. Besides, the evidence was already destroyed. We couldn’t file a report even if we tried.”

She warmed up her hands by wrapping them around her mug. She held the cup to her lips, blew on the steam, but she didn’t take a sip. Instead, she just placed it back down and stared into it.

“Listen to me,” she said softly. “I’m a detective, and yet… I let my emotions influence my judgement and my decisions, which is exactly the kind of thing that leads to crime. That’s why you shouldn’t help me anymore.”

“I don’t care about that,” Stan claimed. “Besides, you can still just use me to find out information for you! There’s only one more person whose identity we don’t know, but I can look for them for you!”

Wendy stared out the window with a sigh, propping her head up with her elbow on the table. With her gaze still on the window, she held a hand out for Stan, which he grabbed. She stroked her thumb over his hand, making him to want to question her intentions.

“There’s some things I have to do,” she says. “I don’t know how long it will take, but if I make it out alive, I’ll tell you everything.”

“Please, let me help you!” Stan insists, placing his other hand on top of hers. “I don’t want you to get killed out there! Is there someone you have to take down? Please tell me who they are! I want to help!”

He’s desperate now. He doesn’t care that the other customers are staring at him. He’s standing from his seat with his hands holding on to Wendy’s while she looks up at him with an expression he doesn’t want to see. She doesn’t want him to come. She doesn’t want him to know about something, but _what?_

Wendy shook her head and freed herself from Stan’s grip. Giving him a weak smile, she stood from her seat, placed the cost of both of their coffees on the table, then turned to leave.

“Goodbye, Stan. I hope to see you again soon.”

“No, wait, I… I like you!”

Wendy stopped walking, but she didn’t face him.

“I don’t know if this changes anything, but… I’ve been helping you all this time just so I can get closer to you.”

“Stan, I like you too, but…”

“If you like me, then don’t understand! Is there someone else you like more, or...”

Wendy turned around to see a boy on the verge of tears. His hands are balled into fists as he stands up straight, feigning confidence like she always did. She turned on her phone, which showed her lock screen background. In the photo, she’s smiling widely with her arm wrapped around the shoulders of a woman with wavy blonde hair.

“Bebe Stevens,” she answered. “My best friend and the love of my life.”

She walks up to Stan and places her hand on his cheek.

“I wasn’t trying to deceive you. Actually, I tried to see what could happen between us because she doesn’t love me back.”

Stan’s ears perked up when he heard that last line, but he kept his mouth shut when Wendy removed her hand from his face and let her arm fall limp against her side.

“Remember when I said that I let my emotions make my decisions for me?” she brought up.

Stan nodded. He was the same way, but he didn’t think mentioning that would help his case.

“Well, I made a deal with someone…” Wendy continued. “...and I don’t have a lot of time.”

“A deal? What kind of deal? With who?” Stan probed, curious as to how this caused her to stop wanting to pursue him.

“I can’t tell you what you need to know because this is something that _I_ want to take care of on my own. It’ll be dangerous, and I don’t want you to get involved. Please, just wait for me to come back, okay?”

“I’ll find a way to help you, even if you don’t want me to. I’ll follow you if I have to.”

Wendy let out a soft chuckle, then smiled up at Stan.

“I really do like you, Stan. If we met when we were much younger, things might have been different. Because I like you, I hope that you won’t be around to see this side of me.”

* * *

 **11/10/2018 06:24 AM [Hell’s Pass Hospital, 4th Floor, Hallway 3]**  

The couple sprinted towards the emergency exit stairway as planned. Not wanting to waste any time, yet still extremely anxious to escape, Craig accidentally pulled on the push bar of the door. Tweek pushed the door next to him properly and grabbed Craig’s wrist for their escape.

“We die on the second floor, so we gotta try to make it to the first before they get us,” Craig reminded as they made their way down the steps. “Maybe we can try and escape from the cafeteria stock room. Does it say anything about that?”

“No, now take your diary back,” Tweek replied, handing Craig his phone. “Get your gun out just in case. We need to be ready for a possible attack.”

As they neared the entrance to the third floor, they could hear a door being opened below, followed by commands directing a group to check every floor. Craig pushed open the third-floor entrance slightly, peeked inside, then hurried in with Tweek once he saw that the coast was clear.

“If they start catching up to us, we’ll hide in one of the rooms, use your grenade to knock them out, then we’ll keep heading to the cafeteria,” Craig instructed as the two continued down the hallway.

“Let’s try going here. Maybe there’s some stairs down this way!” Tweek suggested as he made a sharp turn into the hallway on his left.

“Wait, what if it’s an elevator? Tweek, wait!”

“Chief, the targets are in sight!” Nichole announced into her radio. “Floor three, hallway one! Apprehension in progress!”

“Tweek, throw it!” Craig ordered, slipping into the nearest patient’s room.

Tweek pulled the pin off of his grenade and threw it at Nichole’s team. “Close your eyes and cover your ears!” he instructed as he hid in the room Craig was in.

Within seconds, the grenade exploded, shining a blinding light and emitting a deafening noise that spread out in a several foot radius. While the officers were knocked unconscious, Tweek and Craig sat behind a door with their fingers in their ears and their faces buried in their thighs. The high frequency managed to crack the glass on the door, but not break it completely, saving the two from the bloody cuts from broken glass shards.

This tactic didn’t block out the sound completely, but the boys were still able to see and hear, though they both felt a slight dizziness from the noise. Remaining cautious, Tweek stood with his eyes closed and fingers still in his ears as he tried to feel for Craig with his foot.

“We’re good,” Craig assured, pulling the finger out of Tweek’s ear.

Tweek wanted to comment on how Craig was holding his hand to his forehead, but he knew there was no time to waste. He pointed to the gun Craig left on the floor, prompting him to pick it up. When Tweek looked through the cracked window, he saw the group from the stairs heading for their fainted allies.

“Get ready to shoot,” said Tweek.

Once their right was clear, they saw that the eight officers from the emergency stairs huddled over the unconscious group, searching for the cause of the blast. Both boys stepped out immediately and began shooting.

Though he didn’t have as good of an aim a Tweek, Craig still focused on taking down as many armed officials as possible. There was no time to worry about disabling at this point, though he wasn’t bothered by the idea of killing anymore. He got them into this mess, so there was no way that he was going to let Tweek be captured.

The protect mode activated once again in Tweek, though he felt no remorse for these strangers. Believing Bebe to be safe on the floor above, he aimed with precision and intent to kill. These forces wore helmets and bulletproof vests, so his target was the neck.

**_BANG!_ **

**_BANG!_ **

**_BANG!_ **

Tweek never stayed in one place for even a second. Left, right, left, right, bang, bang, bang. Neither the cries nor the blood spewing from his enemies’ necks fazed him. He had his side, and Craig had his own. He could never shoot Craig, even on accident, so he made sure to stay out of his way.

Craig killed three while Tweek killed the other five. He took Tweek’s hand and led him down the next hallway, but he immediately released him once he saw someone walking up the stairs across from them.

* * *

 **11/10/2018 06:29 AM [Hell’s Pass Hospital, Outside]**  

Wendy and Red could see and hear the effects of Tweek’s stun grenade from the third-floor window.

“Was that another bomb?!” Red questioned, turning to Wendy for instructions. 

“Stun grenade, non-lethal,” Wendy answered as she pushed a full magazine into her gun. “I’m going in.”

“Chief, those two are way too dangerous! We have to evacuate the building!” Red claimed, placing a hand on Wendy’s shoulder.

“ _No,_ Marshall. I’ll handle this.”

“Wendy, what are you doing?! These people are in danger! Bebe’s in danger!”

“Go back to the station, Marshall,” Wendy demanded. “That’s an order.”

Red watched helplessly as Wendy entered the hospital. She had an idea as to why Wendy was acting the way she was, so all she had to do now was to find a specific person to confirm her suspicions. Fortunately, she could see that person forcing his way through the crowd that had come to witness the crime scene.

She turned to see if Wendy was still nearby, but Wendy had already disappeared behind closed doors. She faced the small crowd of frightened onlookers and reached her hand to grab the white sleeve of a South Park High letterman.

“D-detective! Uh, hello!” Stan stammered as Red dragged him out of the crowd by the wrist. “You know, it’s a nice day for a morning jog by the hospital—”

“Come with me,” Red instructed, releasing him. The two headed for the emergency exit passage, which was left abandoned after the stun grenade explosion. “I went undercover to watch your little meeting with Wendy at the diner, but I left with more questions than answers. What could Wendy be hiding? Tell me what you know.”

“I don’t know anything,” Stan answered. He made eye contact to avoid suspicion, but his nerves were giving him away. “And why were you eavesdropping? Did you suspect her before?”

“I thought she was on a date. I wanted it to go well,” Red admits, leaning on the exit door with her arms crossed. “Anyway, that’s besides the point. You two were talking about some kind of dangerous game. Tell me what you know and make it fast.”

“I told you, I don’t know anything!” Stan pleaded, fearing the consequences of exposing Wendy.

“Stan Marsh, I need you to work with me,” Red pleads, becoming more and more impatient. “If you want to help me save her, you have to tell me what you know! She was allies with Tweak and Tucker, but now they’re out to kill each other, so I want to know why.”

Stan bit his lip. He didn’t know what he could say that could both help Wendy and prevent him from saying too much about their situation. If only Kyle were here to help him come up with a plan like he did while they were at the amusement park. It’s too bad that he put their friendship on the line for the sake of a woman he had a crush on.

“...they’re all users,” Stan confessed. “Tweek, Craig, and Wendy. They’re playing a battle royale competition to see who will take the throne of god. Sounds made up, but just listen.”

“What the hell are you—”

“Just _listen_ ,” Stan demanded. “You said you were spying on us, didn’t you? You must’ve heard her say that she had something to take care of that was too dangerous for me to help with. She said she made a deal with someone, and I think that deal involves that girl Bebe Stevens.”

Red set aside the illogical killing game explanation aside for the time being. “A reason that would make Wendy try and kill someone… Bebe’s life would have to be on the line, but… who could she have made the deal with?”

The devilish grin of a floating brunette in a flower crown flashed in Stan’s mind. The only person Stan could think of that could have the upper hand against someone as strong as Wendy. The only person he could think of that would use killing as a motive _and_ make Tweek and Craig the targets.

“...I think I know.”

* * *

 **11/10/2018 06:34 AM [Hell’s Pass Hospital, 3rd Floor, Hallway 2]**  

The boys had their guns out and their fingers on the trigger as Wendy walked to the top of the stairs.

“Two against one, Testaburger? Unless this is a trap,” Craig noted, keeping an eye out for any other officers.

Wendy didn’t reply. She held out her gun and began shooting and running towards them, prompting the boys to do the same.

“You’re insane!” Tweek screamed. He was shocked to see all of his shots missing. He didn’t want to admit it, but she was too fast for the two of them, even with her left shoulder damaged. She managed to nick the edge of his thigh, slowing him down enough for two officers to burst out of a room and pin him down to the ground.

Craig reacted immediately, pointing his gun at the officers, but then he realized that Wendy was still behind him. He backed against the wall and prepared himself for an attack on either side.

“One of you handcuff him,” Wendy ordered the officers. She kept her gun pointed at Craig as she walked towards Tweek. “Tucker, drop the weapon.”

Craig did as he was told. He lowered his arm to his hip, dropped the gun, then immediately whipped out the grenade in his back pocket.

“Squad, retreat!” she commanded.

Not wanting to risk their lives in the blast, the officers ran off without question. Craig held the pin in between his fingers as Tweek struggled to stand while handcuffed and injured.

“Don’t even think about it,” Wendy advised, now pointing her gun at Tweek. She placed him in a chokehold and held the gun to his head. “Got that from Turner, did you? Good thing there’s earplugs in the lobby. I’d suggest you put that down before you find out that non-lethal has its consequences.”

“Just use it and run, Craig!” Tweek cried out, wriggling under Wendy’s grip. “Don’t worry about me!”

“Stun grenades can cause slight burn damage, permanent blindness, and permanent deafness,” Wendy explained. “Even if you do manage to knock me out and kill me, do you really want to turn your little boyfriend into an easy target for the other users?”

Craig was at a loss for answers. He didn’t want to hurt Tweek in any way, and he especially didn’t want to disable him into an easy target.

“Do it, Craig!!” Tweek ordered, shutting his eyes closed. “We can still beat her! You’ll come up with a plan! I believe in you!”

Hearing his words was just what Craig needed. He pulled out the pin and hurled it towards Wendy. When she released him to cover her eyes with her arms, Craig grabbed Tweek, covered his ears with his hands, and hid his face in his chest.

The blinding light returned, but the sound wasn’t nearly as bad as before. None of them expected this, nor did they expect the ground beneath them to crumble and fall from a different bomb altogether.

All three of them dropped to the floor from several feet in the air. As Craig and Tweek fell, a protruding concrete platform hit Craig’s shoulder, causing him to drop and separate from Tweek.

Below, Tweek rolled over to Wendy’s side. Breathing heavily, Wendy forced herself to stand up and hold Tweek hostage with her arm wrapped around him. Despite her damaged shoulder being used to hold Tweek in place, she endured the pain until Craig stood to face her.

“Damn you…” Wendy cursed as Craig pushed himself off of the ground. “You knew the grenade was just a trigger for one of Turner’s explosives!”

Craig spotted his gun to his left. Having collided with the platform earlier, Craig winced at the soreness as he tried to grab it. Once he did, he pointed it at Wendy, who had a scalpel to Tweek’s throat.

“One wrong move, and he’s dead,” Wendy threatened, lightly pushing the scalpel into Tweek’s neck until a small stream of blood flowed out.

Craig cursed when he found himself in the same position as before. He pulled out his diary, hoping he would see something new, but it wasn’t what he wanted to see.

 **11/10/2018 06:43 AM [Hell’s Pass Hospital, 2nd Floor, Hallway 2]  
** I shoot the Fourth and hit Tweek instead. Tweek dies. 

“Second floor,” he muttered, his grip tightening around his phone.

“Says he dies on the second floor, huh? Funny. That’s what mine said too before I got here.” Wendy noted.

“It’s okay!” Tweek said. “Do it, Craig! Shoot! I don’t care if I die!”

“Dumbass! You got some kind of death wish?!” Craig shouted. He was out of options. There was no way he could kill Tweek, but if he didn’t, Wendy would kill him instead.

“I want you to live! I’ve been protecting you all this time just so you can live!” Tweek spoke confidently, but the tears forming in his eyes made his tone less so. “I… I don’t have to be by your side forever, as long as I know that I sacrificed myself for the man I love… As long as you live—”

“ ** _SHUT UP!!_** ” Craig screamed, the tears getting to him as well. “Why can’t you fucking _understand_ that I want to protect you too?! I thought I told you that I care about you just as much as you care about me, and we’re not going to make it a fucking contest!”

“Craig, you know that all I do is cause trouble for you and everyone else!” Tweek cried. He hadn’t felt the full force of his depression symptoms since his withdrawal period, so all of his tears and self-depreciation poured out of him at once. “Don’t throw away your life for someone like me. I’ve been prepared to die for you from the start, so you don’t have to keep pushing yourself to tolerate my actions… Please, just shoot…”

 _“Tolerate my actions”_ echoed in Craig’s mind, as he knew that was something he did often. Not anymore.

“You don’t want me to force myself to tolerate your actions anymore? Fine. We’ll set down some rules for this game, then,” Craig announced. “Rule number one…”

The diary static rang through the air from all three of their diaries, but none of them were in the position to check what had changed.

“Don’t you _EVER_ sacrifice yourself for me!!!”

Craig raised his arms and pulled the trigger. The bullet struck Wendy at her right ear, blowing it right off. She fell backwards and collided with the floor, allowing Tweek to escape and run to Craig’s side.

“Craig, I…” Tweek began.

“Don’t worry about it,” Craig replied.

With her remaining strength, Wendy clenched her teeth, pulled off her coat, and pressed it against her ear to stop the bleeding as much as she could. Her dizziness acted quickly, making it difficult for her to focus, so she relied on sheer willpower to force herself to stand. She grabbed her scalpel once again and prepared to charge, ignoring her rapidly decreasing strength.

The boys turned when they heard her moving. Craig pointed his gun at her, but he froze when he heard a door open nearby.

“That’s as far as you go!” Red announced, pointing her gun at Wendy as well. “I’ll make sure you confess your crimes!”

By her side stood Stan, who instantly went pale upon seeing Wendy’s condition. “I’m sorry Wendy…” Stan apologized, clenching his fists to prevent himself from crying. “I just wanted to save you—”

“I told you not to come here, Stan!” said Wendy. She turned to the ground, refusing to face everyone, but she didn’t say a word.

“So rude…” Heidi claimed as she walked inside the room. “Typical of a corrupted cop.”

 **“ _SHUT UP!!!”_** Wendy screamed, throwing the scalpel at Heidi’s head. “This is all _your_ fault!”

Heidi caught the scalpel and tossed it onto the floor, unfazed.

“Wendy, that’s enough!” Red shouted. “You’re dumb enough to make a deal with a terrorist like her. You tried to frame and kill two people just to save someone who’s already dying. You put a hospital of innocent people in danger just to kill two people. I know you have your reasons, but they’re not good enough to let you run free.”

Stan’s head snapped when he saw what Red pulled her badge out of her blazer.

“Wendy Testaburger… you’re under arrest.”

“No, wait!” he cried out. “You don’t have to do this!

“She’s not the idealized Wendy in that dumb fucking head of yours, Marsh!” Craig retorted, holding Tweek in his arms. “Wake up and smell the damn betrayal!”

“He’s right, Stan…” Wendy admitted. “They’re all right. I…” She looked down at her diary to see a blank notes app. Once she became a criminal, her investigation diary became useless. “I’m a criminal… I have to pay the price.”

She began picking apart her protective case, tossing each piece onto the floor. All that was left was a naked smartphone, known to shatter with minimal effort.

“Wendy, please… Just go to prison!” Stan pleaded. “I can still visit you in prison! You don’t have to do this!”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Stan,” Wendy sighed. She turned to Heidi, who beamed with pride over her win. “All this just to get me out of the game. You really hate me, don’t you?”

“Shouldn’t have stuck your nose where it didn’t belong,” Heidi replied without missing a beat. “Still, you did a great job today. Kill yourself now, and I won’t lay a hand on your friend.”

She held one hand over her heart, then raised the other to prove her trustworthiness. Wendy didn’t buy it.

“Red, Stan…”

The two nodded at her.

“Please take care of Bebe for me.”

She threw the phone towards Red’s feet, shattering the glass instantly. As her body faded in and out, she faced the couple, who stared wide eyed at the scene.

“I’m sorry, you two,” she apologized. “Nothing I can say will compensate for my actions, so I hope that my defeat will relieve you. One less user to worry about.”

When Wendy disappeared, Stan reached for her phone and pocketed it. Red turned to him, but he ran straight out of the building without turning back.

“The game is progressing quickly. There won’t be any reason for my love to be impatient,” Heidi grinned, clasping her hands together. “So long, everyone! Please continue to put on a great show for us!”

Red, Tweek, and Craig were the only ones left at the scene. They watched with disgust for Heidi’s parting message as she returned back to the cathedral. When she left, Red walked over to them.

“I know you’ve been through a lot lately, but we’ll need to interrogate you again. To ensure yours and our safety, cameras will be installed in the interrogation room. Be prepared to answer some questions.”

The boys nodded, knowing that they wouldn’t be able to get out of this. Craig checked his phone one last time, then sighed in relief at the outcome.

 **11/10/2018 06:43 AM [Hell’s Pass Hospital, 2nd Floor, Hallway 2]  
** I shoot Testaburger in the ear. She drops Tweek and falls over. 

 **11/10/2018 06:50 AM [Hell’s Pass Hospital, 2nd Floor, Hallway 2]**  
Testaburger kills herself.  
**—DEAD END AVOIDED—**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it's summer and I have a ton of free time, but I'm gonna take a break for now. Since I changed so much from the original story, this next arc will be pretty difficult to write. Wish me luck, and thanks for reading!


	13. Mainstream

**11/10/2018 08:34 AM [Main Street, Outside]**

Though the interrogation wasn’t until tomorrow, the couple was already stressing out about it, and with good reason.

Charge 1: Stealing a firearm from an officer.  
Charge 2: Assaulting the chief of police.  
Charge 3: Resisting arrest with firearms.  
Charge 4: Assaulting several officers with firearms and explosives.  
Charge 5: Killing several officers with firearms.

Aside from the possibility of being killed, the boys had no other reason to commit all of those crimes. Without Wendy to testify on their behalf, the results of the interrogation will be uncertain. Craig suggested checking the diary for the turnout, but Tweek claimed that doing so might change the future into something worse.

“Maybe… I shouldn’t have shot Testaburger,” said Craig. “I could’ve just taken your hand and ran.”

“Yeah, you mentioned that this morning…” Tweek sighed.

With the police temporarily off of their backs, the two walked back home, awaiting a nice shower, a decent breakfast, and a long nap. Or maybe just the nap, since everything that they went through in the past few hours left them exhausted.

Their walk was slow and long, thanks to the small bullet wound on the side of Tweek’s thigh. He was patched up by a medic brought by Red, which they were grateful for, but walking was still painful. He turned down Craig’s offer to carry him numerous times, but he still had his arm wrapped around Craig’s shoulder and Craig’s arm around his waist.

“Hope Mom’s still passed out from work. I reeeeeeally don’t want to have to explain why I was at the scene of another bombing, especially when she freaked out about the one at our last school,” Craig groaned.

Craig didn’t notice it earlier, but he started to wonder how he was able to access his diary while his phone was off. He pressed the home button, and sure enough, the diary popped up. Nothing else. He thought about sharing this with Tweek, but he had other concerns. For example, what was he going to see when he turned his phone back on?

Empty. No notifications. He was almost insulted that his friends didn’t ask him if he was okay. Six in the morning was an unreasonable time to watch the news as a teenager, but they should’ve heard the explosions and made the connection to him and Tweek possibly being in danger.

Tweek pat him on the back for reassurance, assuming that there must be a reason why no one had said anything. He unlocked the door, then he immediately raised his arms in defense when Clyde jumped in his face.

“Dude!” Clyde cried out, but his mouth was covered by Token, and his body was held back by Jimmy.

“Hush, man!” Token whispered. “His mom’s asleep. Let’s go upstairs.”

“She doesn’t know you guys are here, so keep it down!” Tricia hissed, squeezing past everyone to push Craig and Tweek into the house. “I told her you guys were spending the night at Token’s, so remember that!”

“Thanks, Trish,” said Craig, giving her a grateful nod.

“I did it for Tweek, not you,” Tricia claimed, giving him a friendly middle finger. “I’d sell you out to watch you get your ass beat by mom any day.”

Craig flipped her off and led everyone to his room. When they arrived, Clyde closed the door and pressed his back and his hands to it as if he were trying to prevent someone from entering.

“You guys sh-sh… you guys sh-shot a bunch of cops?!” Jimmy exclaimed, earning a shush from Token. “How did… how did you get away?”

The couple glanced at each other and sighed. Simultaneously, they responded with two words: “Kenny McCormick.” They were surprised to see that he wasn’t actually here at the moment with the same questions.

“Gunfights, lots of running, then you jumped off the roof and into a dumpster—by the way, you guys smell disgusting—and then went into hiding,” Clyde explained, though every detail he knew was what he assumed from the sounds coming from the building. “If Trish didn’t tell me to leave you guys alone, I might have blown your cover.”

"You also helped distract the guard so I could sneak in," Craig reminded. "Did you tell everyone about your pizza guy disguise?"

Tweek grinned and sighed as he watched everyone chatter happily about their own little stories. It was nice to take his mind off of the heart-stopping—both figuratively and literally—adventure that they had, and he felt his lips curl into a small smile as he listened to Craig's plan to save him. He was also happy to know that Clyde was back on his side and willing to go through the trouble of saving him.

Then all of that relief came to an end once Craig mentioned something that had happened earlier.

"Stan?" Token questioned. "Stan Marsh?"

"Yeah, man," said Craig. "I was gonna call him Kyle's secret butt buddy, but you should've seen the way he was crying over Testaburger. Tweek said he was spying on us at Funland, but I still don't know what kind of partnership he and Testaburger had."

"Maybe they were secretly fucking," Clyde crudely suggested, leading him to receiving several eye rolls.

"If they were, then she would've been leading him on," said Tweek, thinking back to what Heidi had said. "Heidi Turner was trying to help us take down Testaburger because Testaburger pissed her off."

Everyone shuddered at the thought of being on the school terrorist's bad side, though from what they've heard from Craig, Wendy's injuries mostly came from the two of them shooting at her. Jimmy and Tricia imagined internal torture. Token imagined mental. Clyde imagined the injuries being hidden under her clothes, to which he started grinning and nodding to. Token and Jimmy gave each other a look when they realized what Clyde was thinking about.

"Turns out she was trying to save her friend," Tweek continued. "But if you ask me, I think there's more to that relationship."

"Look at you, Tweek!" Tricia teased. "You can sense relationships? Are you a love doctor now?"

"Oh love d-doc… love doctor, would you t-tell me if Nancy Stewart would go… would go to prom with me?" Jimmy joined in, though he was partially serious.

Tweek paused. Starting on September 30th, his future diary will have entries up to ninety days in advance. Counting ahead, the ninetieth day was sometime in December, which was way before prom. What did all of this mean?

"Yes," Tweek answered, then grabbed Craig's arm to pull them both up. He winced at the pain of standing, but he endured it. "Craig and I have to shower. We're really disgusting right now. Be right back!"

"Don't do anything gross in there!" Tricia called out as they left.

Hiding in the bathroom, Tweek pushed his ear to the door to make sure that no one was following them.

"What's up, babe?" Craig asked. "Did the prom question freak you out, because I don't plan on doing a crazy prom-posal."

"Ninety days, Craig!" Tweek whispered, grabbing Craig by the shoulders. "I was trying not to worry everyone, but remember what the god said about ninety days?"

"That's how long our future diary works?"

"Yeah, so that must be the deadline! What will happen to us if we don't defeat everyone by then?!"

Craig looked back at the door, then back at Tweek. He knew what Tweek was insinuating, and even he was beginning to think of all the possibilities. _Couples who spend so much time together really do act like each other_ , he realized.

"I'm not saying this to freak you out, but you're probably thinking the same thing anyway, so just stay calm for this…" Craig instructed. He paused to take a breath before speaking. "Heidi will kill us, won't she?"

"Oh my god, I forgot she's actually a player! Isn't she the Ninth?! I thought fighting Stan would be bad, but _Heidi Turner?!_ Oh my fucking god…"

"Okay, so we're both on the same page about Stan," Craig noted. "I was actually gonna ask you about your thoughts on that."

"I was suspicious of him from the start," Tweek huffed. He released Craig from his grip and leaned against the sink. "He has to be a user. Remember when he took her phone and ran off? He's probably gonna try and get information out of it."

"Or put it on his pillow and cry beside it," said Craig. "Dude was a wreck when she died. Probably in love with her."

Tweek bit his lip. First Kenny and Butters, now Stan and Wendy. Watching your loved one die is devastating, especially when you know you could've prevented it, and now he just realized that Stan will be very angry towards the two of them. Probably even vengeful.

He grabbed onto Craig's shoulders with wide eyes, but no words left his lips. Thankfully, Craig was already knew what he was thinking.

"Stan's gonna try to kill us for killing his girl, huh?"

Tweek nodded.

"Not saying that we can't take him, but I still feel bad for him," said Craig. He pulled Tweek close and began patting his head. "We’ll talk about this later. You smell like a dumpster."

* * *

**11/11/2018 12:01 PM [Park County Police Station, Interrogation Room]**

Though Tweek and Craig were already sitting at the table, Red had her hands holding up her head as she stared down at the files before her. The boys alternated between taking peeks at the files and looking at the exhausted woman hovering over them.

With Wendy gone, the entire police department practically became a war zone between her squad and Yates’. Though Red was appointed as the new chief, she had an even tougher time trying to get everything under control, especially with the “police are corrupt” news spreading throughout the town. Because of all of this, she was only given an hour with the boys, so she was trying to review everything in her head before she began. Lucky for her, everything she needed to know about the case was in the file Wendy had sent her.

"What do you need to know?!" Tweek blurted out, anxious to start and end the interrogation.

"I just need your side of the story," Red answered. She slipped the file over to the boys and sat back in her chair. "Chief Testaburger had that delivered to my place before all of this went down. Basically, it says that she tried to frame you for attempting to murder Bebe Stevens, and I want to know if this is true."

"Of course not!" Tweek claimed. "The attempted murder part, not the framing. The framing part sounds like something she would do to us."

Craig skimmed through the files to prove Red’s words, and sure enough, she was speaking the truth. "The files say that she specifically planned to provoke one of us to commit a crime by putting the other in danger. I bet she expected me to talk to her and Tweek to attack.”

"It also says that the reason she tried to frame the two of you was because Heidi Turner was the one who tried to kill Bebe, but we all know that Turner is untouchable. She would never admit to something like that,” Red explained. “Then there’s the part where she made a deal with Turner that involves killing you two in order to save Bebe.”

After flipping through Wendy’s confession, Craig noticed that the reason why Heidi wanted them to be killed wasn’t written. They knew why, obviously, but mentioning the survival game in a federal document wasn’t exactly an option for them.

“People will want to know why Testaburger targeted us specifically,” Craig pointed out as he slid the file back to Red. “How will we add that in there without mentioning the game?”

Confused, Red went through the files again, then she realized what Craig was referring to. Everything she needed to know about the game was explained by Stan, and though she had no choice but to believe him, the department wouldn’t accept such an inconceivable story like that. Once more, she carefully flipped through the pages in search for some kind of hidden message, but there was nothing in the files to help her case.

Though Tweek hadn’t gone through the files himself, he understood their dilemma. “Unless…” he began. He knew Heidi had to be watching them right now. She was always watching them. “Unless she was willing to come and confess to keep us in the game. We can’t participate if we get arrested.”

The three looked around the room, bracing themselves for Heidi’s appearance. To their surprise and disappointment, she didn’t show up. Not even a sickening giggle to show she was listening in.

Tweek’s stomach began to churn at the thought of their several charges getting them arrested. An incomplete report stood in their way of freedom, and though every crime they’ve committed was an act of self-defense, just about all of them were unjustified. Actually, all of them were unjustified, and it all started because Craig shot Wendy. Not that he would pin this on Craig, of course. He would never sell him out like that.

Craig carefully watched Red’s expression to determine what she was thinking. Without Wendy to testify, Red could easily trash the confession and allow their arrest. Noting her brows furrowing in frustration, he wondered why she cared to help them in the first place. Surely, she was close to the people they've killed, so why even bother with Wendy's confession?

Briefly glancing up from the files, Red watched the boys fail to keep their panic internal. They shot each other worried glances and uncertain nods of assurance, which made her want to say something.

"Why are you playing a game like this in the first place?"

"Because…" Tweek began, though his mind was blank. He had no interest in becoming a god, since it was unlikely that Craig would stay by his side. He fought to keep both of them alive, nothing more, nothing less. He never purposefully sought out the other users to kill them, and if he could, he would hide himself and Craig somewhere nobody would be able to find them.

But Craig wouldn't appreciate that, and he wasn't going to kidnap him just to keep him safe. He promised Craig that he would protect him, but he also promised not to sacrifice himself to do so. It was clearly the easier option, considering how difficult it is to save two people at the same time, but the thought of leaving Craig to fight on his own just because he got himself killed off early was unbearable.

"Turner's interfering just to keep the game moving," Craig spoke up. "I don't know this for sure, but there are a ton of signs to prove this. When the game first started, there was someone coming to kill us. A serial killer back in September, like late September."

"Yeah!" Tweek joined in. "He was trying to kill Craig, and he had a diary just like us! I think that when we beat him, Heidi Turner decided to come after us next just for fun! She's always going on about entertainment!"

“She’s always saying something about her love, and I assume it’s the god. Big guy, looks like a decent dude, but he’s got evil in his eyes,” Craig described while using exaggerated hand gestures. “She’s trying to impress him, so that must be why she’s forcing us to fight. She probably got bored of watching Testaburger play nice with us, so she tried to get her to fight us by using her friend against her.”

“I see where you’re going with this, so let’s turn that into something that we can use in a report,” Red explained, pulling out her notebook. “Heidi Turner is working for somebody that wants the two of you dead. She blackmailed Wendy to kill the two of you, which is where the Bebe story comes in. Why they’re targeting the two of you… we can hint at a personal grudge that you don’t know about.”

The boys were speechless from how quickly Red came up with a cover story. They could only nod in agreement, which Red was pleased with.

“Alright, I'll get to work. You're free to go," she announced, dismissing them with a wave as she kept her eyes on her notes.

"Wait…" said Tweek. "Why, uh… are you helping us?"

"No, it's fine. You don't have to tell us," Craig interjected as he took Tweek's hand to lead him out of the room. He couldn't risk Red suddenly changing her mind by realizing that there wasn't a reason to help them, so his mission was to get as far away from her as possible while they were still free men.

The boys stopped in their tracks when they heard a piece of paper being slapped onto the table. Red didn't say anything else, though her mouth moved as she reviewed her notes. Craig walked back to see a neat, handwritten message on a pink sticky note. He peeled it off of the table and brought it to Tweek so they could read it together.

_“Please do whatever you can to make sure all charges against Tweek Tweak and Craig Tucker are dropped. This file will contain my confession, which forced them to commit their crimes for survival, so please pin the blame on me.” -Wendy T._

“Don’t walk away with that. It’s a liability,” Red explained, holding out her hand.

Tweek placed the note in her hand and stepped back, watching to see what she would do with it. She folded it and slipped it into her bra, so Tweek turned away and left the room with Craig. But before he put his hand on the doorknob, he looked back at Red, who was still scribbling away. “Thank you,” he said with a nod, then he made his exit.

* * *

**11/21/2018 11:05 AM [Marsh Residence, Outside]**

Everything that had happened up until this point made it even more difficult for Kenny to access the forensics lab and test the DNA of the bone shards he brought from Tweek’s backyard. If the police weren’t too busy before with Wendy’s plan to take down Tweek and Craig, they were now with trying to save their reputation, so Kenny had to put his investigation on hold once again.

But if this were a competition on who had it worse, the winner would be Stan, who had holed himself in his room for almost two weeks. Kenny couldn’t blame him, seeing how he did the same thing after Butters’ death. That’s why he was standing in front of Stan’s house, waiting for someone to answer the door.

“How bad is it?” he asked when Kyle opened the door and greeted him.

“Remember when he was younger, his parents divorced, and he had really bad depression? It’s ten times worse. Glad his mom doesn’t drink much, because it’s been a nightmare trying to keep him from drowning himself in alcohol,” Kyle answered, holding a hand to his head.

Kenny walked inside the empty house and noted that the only thing breaking the silence was the faint sound of sprinkling water. He faced the stairs and looked up curiously.

“He’s drowning himself in the shower now,” said Kyle. “He said it’s like crying in the rain.”

“I’ll go get him,” Kenny sighed as he trudged up the stairs.

When they reached the top, Kyle knocked on the bathroom door. “Hey, dude. You almost done?” He pressed his ear to the door, but there was no response. He could still hear the shower running, so he knew Stan was in there.

Kenny went ahead and opened the door, and he was surprised to see that it was unlocked. Without an ounce of shame, as compared to Kyle, who kept his distance by the doorway, Kenny pushed aside the shower curtain. Curled up on the floor of the tub was Stan, fully clothed and dead inside.

Stan didn’t acknowledge Kenny’s presence. He stared at the wall of the tub blankly as his clothes soaked up more and more water. His tears already stopped falling, so all he had to make him feel alive was the chill from his damp clothing. He tried to ignore it in favor of wanting to feel empty.

Kyle turned off the faucet and sat on the edge of the tub. He tried to ignore the fact that he sat on a few droplets of water as he placed a hand to Stan’s shoulder and shook him gently.

“Alright, man. Time to get dry,” he said as he turned off the shower. “Look, Kenny’s here. We can get something to eat.”

“We can talk about it, you know,” Kenny suggested. “I’ve been through the same thing, remember?”

The boys looked to Kenny, realizing what he was referring to. They all mourned for Butters, but Kenny was the most distressed from being the closest to him, not to mention the fact that he witnessed his death. That, and the Professor Chaos and Mysterion situation. They remembered how Kenny would lock himself in his room for days, refusing to even go to school or answer the phone.

“Mourning for Butters was painful, but Kenny got through it. Right, Ken?” Kyle brought up.

Kenny hummed, folding his arms with a melancholic smile. “It was rough, not gonna lie. I went through the five stages of grief in less than two weeks, and here I am, still kicking.”

Stan rolled onto his back, facing the ceiling. The chill was worse now that the faucet was off, but he wasn’t going to do anything about it. “Two weeks? I can sulk for 3 more days, then.”

Kyle groaned. He and Kenny each grabbed one of Stan’s arms and dragged him onto the floor, but because he refused to make an effort to stand, he just flopped onto the floor.

“What are we gonna do, man?” Kyle whined. “I don’t know if I can take much more of this.”

“You sulked about your breakup for weeks, dude,” Kenny pointed out. “And this guy put aside spending time with Wendy to help you, so you can’t give up on him.”

Stan’s shivering didn’t go unnoticed. Kyle knew he had to do something about him.

“Stan, if you don’t get up, I’ll take Wendy’s phone to the police station.”

“No!” Stan cried, hopping to his feet. He hurried out of the bathroom to grab the phone while the boys tagged along.

Like the average guy’s room, Stan’s had the usual amount of clothes and other belongings strewn about, yet somehow, the room felt as empty as he was. It was as if he hadn’t slept in it ever since Wendy died. What was even stranger was the fact that Stan had been hiding her phone in a heavy duty Switch case, which was hiding in his sock drawer.

When Kenny gave Kyle a questioning look, Kyle replied with, “He never opens it. Just… holds it and stares into nothing.”

And that was what Stan was doing now. He curled up on the carpet once again and cradled the case in his arms. The carpet was warmer than the wet floor of the tub, so he didn’t bother to remove his clothes.

Kyle walked to the clothes hamper and pulled out a clean white T-shirt and blue jeans. Kenny went ahead and rolled Stan onto his back. Stan’s arms were still wrapped around the case, and Kenny knew he would throw a fit if he tried to take it away, so Kenny carefully pushed the case to lie beside Stan’s head and began tugging off his shirt.

“You’re gonna get sick, Stan. Take this off already,” Kenny sighed. Not even his perverted nature could overcome his annoyance towards Stan’s unreasonable behavior. Then again, that didn’t stop him from poking his stomach and noting the break from his daily workouts.

“When I toss him his clothes, grab the case and hide behind me,” Kyle whispered to Kenny. He dropped the T-shirt and jeans on Stan’s face, and while he was blinded, Kenny reached for the case and ran towards the closet. As Stan began to chase Kenny, Kyle stood in front of him and defended him.

“Change your clothes, then we’ll give back the phone.”

Stan huffed, but he didn’t have the energy to fight off both Kyle and Kenny. He tugged off his clothes and haphazardly threw them onto the carpet. “I need new underwear,” he grunted.

Kenny was way ahead of him. He threw a pair of gray boxers at Stan’s face. “So unsexy,” he mumbled as he turned away from Stan, who was fumbling to put them on while standing. He directed his attention to the case, and as he pulled down the zipper, he heard Stan order him to stop.

“I’m dressed. Give me the case.”

“Actually, I’ve got a really good idea,” said Kenny. He nodded at the case, then handed it to Stan. “You’ll like this, trust me.”

* * *

**11/21/2018 12:10 PM [Park County Police Station, 2nd Floor]**

“Hey, Marshall. Brought someone for you,” Kenny announced. He stood aside to reveal Stan, who was still clutching the case.

“Thanks, Mysterion,” Red replied. She presented Stan with a small album with a picture of her, Wendy, Bebe, and Nichole on the front. “I need to see that phone, so I thought you’d like to see this while it’s out of your hands.”

Stan made the trade and stared down at the cover of the album. The photo was of the girls as pre-teens with poorly concealed acne, colorful braces, brightly colored hair streaks and tiny bows. The scene kid stage of 2008, as Stan recalled, though he tried not to remember himself doing the same thing back then.

“Aww, it’s little Wendy!” Kenny said, pointing to the twelve year old posing in front of a fountain.

Stan flipped through the pages and smiled softly at the progression of Wendy’s life. He stopped at 2010, which was when they actually met for the first time. Red wasn’t around to capture the embarrassing vomit incident, but he did see himself in the background of her doing a photo shoot as a cheerleader. Back when he was reminiscing about their times together, he remembered following her around in secret before she went to a high school in a different city. He guesses that he might’ve forgotten about her after that.

“I think you guys should come with me,” Red advised, distracting Stan from his nostalgia trip. She held onto the case as she stood to leave, so Stan followed her out. Curious, Kenny and Kyle walked out as well.

A ten minute car ride later, they ended up in front of a small apartment complex. The boys followed Red upstairs to a nearly empty studio apartment.

“It’s been rough trying to get all of her stuff out of here, seeing how most of my squad has been hospitalized because of this reckless idiot,” Red sighed, though it didn’t sound like she had any ill will towards Wendy. “Anyway, her purse is on her bed. It's filled with phones and a tablet. Pretty sure those are the rest of the diaries."

Stan was still clutching onto the album, so Kyle went to retrieve the purse. He peeked inside as he walked back to the group and ran his fingers across all five diaries.

"You can take those with you. I'm sure you'll understand what to do with them better than I can," Red admitted. "Besides, you've been her little information broker, haven't you, Marsh?"

Stan didn't answer. Instead, he handed Red the album back in exchange for the Switch case.

"Hey, Stan?" Kyle called out once he laid out the diaries on the kitchen table. "Come look at this."

As Stan made his way to Kyle's side, Kenny waved for Red to talk with him outside of the door. "Sorry to keep asking you this, but I really need access to the forensics lab," he spoke softly, eyeing the door he was leaning on.

"McCormick, I need to know what you're trying to test," Red tried to reason. "I can't let you in there without knowing what you intend to do with that information."

"It's an independent case—"

"For _what?"_

"I found… something, and I can't have you get involved until I figure out how severe the situation is myself. I don't want something bad to happen if my hunch turns out to be wrong, so I really want to make these decisions on my own."

Red glanced at Kenny's backpack, then turned her attention back to his pleading eyes. "Fine. I don't need to know what it's for because it's probably related to the game, isn't it?"

"Yes," Kenny lied. "I'm involved, but I can't tell anyone because a lot of these people are my friends."

Red didn’t press any further. "I'm heading back now. Bus stop is down the street. If you forget to lock the door before you guys leave, I'm revoking your lab privileges."

Kenny waited before Red was out of earshot before sighing in relief. He walked back into the apartment to find Stan and Kyle walking his way.

"Hey, Kenny," said Kyle. "We need to talk to Tweek and Craig. Know where to find them?"

"Their house, usually. They don't leave often 'cuz of the game."

"Honestly, that's fair," Kyle comments, sharing a nod with the slightly less depressed Stan. "But we need to talk to them about the diaries."

Kenny notes that Wendy's black purse was replaced by a beige grocery tote, which he assumed held all of the recovered diaries. All but one, which was in Kyle's hand. Though Kenny didn't know which diary Kyle was holding, knowing the situation was a pretty obvious clue. He turned away from the boys and held the door open, making sure to follow Red's instructions to ensure that his investigation progresses. Still, he worried over what was about to happen once everyone met.

* * *

**11/21/2018 01:20 PM [Tucker Residence, Living Room]**

Everyone stared questioningly at Tweek, who had just slammed the front door and had his back pressed against it.

"It's Stan!" he mouthed to Craig, who understood his actions completely.

Craig waved Tweek aside and pressed his ear to the door to try and listen to what they were saying.

“They just want to talk, don’t worry,” Kenny assured.

Since trusting someone he thought was their ally failed miserably last time, Tweek left the decision to Craig, who opened the door just a crack. The rest of the gang tried to peer through the crack and saw a slightly nervous Kenny, a Kyle that clearly had something to address, and a still mopey Stan. Deciding that only a third of their guests would try to hurt him, Craig allowed them to enter.

“Oh, uh… What’s going on here?” Kyle wondered when he saw Clyde and the others hanging around the living room.

“The diary app! It’s available to everyone now!” Clyde announced, showing off his latest entries.

“Have you guys s-seen it?” Jimmy asked, showing off his as well. “It’s an online community that… an online community that lets you share your… share your thoughts.”

“Kind of,” said Token. “You have to pick a subject to base all of your entries on. Mine is about how my friends are doing. A Friendship Diary.”

“Token, I’m doing great! Write that down!” Clyde said as he poked Token’s screen.

“How did I not know about an app like that?” Kenny wondered. He opened up the App Store to search for what they were talking about.

“It was released today,” said Kyle. “You might’ve been busy at the station, though.”

“So you’re using it t-too?” Jimmy asked, walking up to Kyle. “Mine’s about my… mine’s about my successes. An hour ago, I posted this really funny… this really… really funny joke online and got a ton of… a ton of likes! What’s yours about?”

“Stan’s fuck-ups,” Kyle immediately answered. “Except I’m not writing anything now because… well…”

They both turned to Stan, whose half lidded eyes stared ahead of him. Without the album or the phone to distract him, he was back to drowning all the noise around him and sulking about Wendy.

“You… wanted to write about his fuck-ups?” Craig questioned, joining the conversation. “While he’s like this?”

“Yeah, you’re right. That’s pretty fucked up,” Kyle admitted. He grabbed Stan by the shoulders and began pushing him towards the kitchen. “Stan, can we talk? Cool, let’s do that!”

Craig raised a suspicious eyebrow at him, then hurried over to Tweek’s side. Stan was in no condition to start a fight, but even if he was, he couldn’t do so with a large audience around them.

When he reached Tweek, he noticed that he and Kenny were huddled together in a private conversation.

“What’s this about?” Kenny asked, showing Tweek the app store’s newest diary app. “Share your thoughts with your friends? Limit yourself to a single subject for an added challenge? Who made this?”

Tweek eyed Clyde, then shrugged. “An hour ago, Clyde just came over all of a sudden to show us what he called “The Romance Diary”. It’s where he lists all locations and instances of his attempts at flirting. He tried flirting with all of us just so he could have something to write.”

Kenny attempted to hide his laugh for the sake of their privacy, but he ended up laughing through clenched teeth. “He would do that! God, I wish I was there! Did you flirt back?”

“Of course not,” Tweek replied, rolling his eyes with a smirk. “I can’t flirt.”

“Mm-hmm. Yeah. Sure,” Kenny answered, wiggling his eyebrows. “Are you sure you weren’t trying to see yourself with a new face? New body? New…” He glanced at Clyde as well. “Well, everything since he and Craig are complete opposites?”

“Impossible,” Craig claimed, leaning forward to join the huddle. He placed a hand on Tweek’s shoulder and rested his chin on it. “This guy’s not even gay. He’s Craig-sexual. Craigs only.”

Tweek snorted and shook his head. “Yeah, unfortunately I’m only interested in self-absorbed assholes.”

“Alright, you two,” Kenny interrupted, holding his hands up. “I got off topic. We were talking about the app.”

Craig pointed at Kenny’s phone and waved his hand at him to get a closer look. “Seller is HCH, category is social networking, age rating four and up…”

“HCH?” Kenny mouthed out, but due to the huddle, it didn’t go unnoticed.

“What?” Craig asked.

“No, nothing. It’s just kinda… weird. This app, I mean.”

Craig hummed as he handed Kenny back his phone. “What if the person who created it intended to make it harder to be singled out as a user? You know, if everyone’s making diaries, then who actually has a future diary?”

“Yeah, I see where you’re coming from,” Kenny agreed.

Tweek stared at Kenny long at hard as he tried to remember what he wanted to ask. Noticing his stare, Kenny did the same, waiting for Tweek to say something to break the awkward silence.

“Babe?” Craig asked, shaking Tweek’s shoulder gently.

Tweek looked down at the carpet, darting his tongue out slightly over dry lips. He closed his eyes and sighed before speaking. “Uh, well… I know you’ve been trying to get… you-know-what DNA tested, and… well, I know Craig’s been asking you about it. Did you… find anything yet?”

“I’m going tomorrow,” Kenny answered. “Just got permission, but Stan and Kyle wanted to see you guys today.” He notes the paleness in Tweek’s face and adds, “They won’t hurt you guys, I don’t think.”

“They wouldn’t tell _you!_ You’re talking to the enemy right now! You’re basically a spy!”

“Okay, well they can’t hurt you in a group.”

“What did they want to talk to us about anyway?”

“I mean, it’s not my place to say, you know?” Kenny explained, glancing over at the kitchen.

“Okay, then tell us about Kyle. User or not?” Craig asked.

“They’ll talk to you guys themselves,” said Kenny. “Look, just sit back and have fun with everyone. They’ve got fake diaries! How could you ignore that?”

“But Stan _has_ to be mad about what happened with Testaburger! What if Kyle gets him to snap out of his depression and kill us?!” Tweek panicked, his whisper-shouting attracting attention from the group.

“I’m not mad at you guys for that,” Stan interrupted as he walked towards the huddle. Craig was quick to jump to Tweek’s defense by holding out his arm, but Stan held up a hand of peace. “She set you up. It’s not your fault. I mean, sending the whole police department to kill you? That’s not cool.”

His hand’s slow descent back to his side and the dead look he gave to the floor as he spoke was enough to prove his sincerity. He was clearly in no state to try and put up an act, which relieved the couple, but it also filled them with guilt.

“We’re still sorry that things happened the way they did,” Tweek apologized. “I mean…” He glanced at Craig, who nodded at him to continue. “Actually, we’re grateful for her. We were interrogated like, two weeks ago, and she wrote a confession so that they couldn’t arrest us.”

“It’s true,” Craig assured. “Remember Detective Marshall? The redhead you were with before everything went down? She conducted the interrogation using Testaburger’s confession. If it weren’t for the hostage situation with Heidi Turner, she’d be a really good person.”

Stan sighed. “She was a good person.”

“We weren’t denying that!” Tweek claimed, holding his hands up in defense. “We definitely agree with you—”

“Let’s just stop talking about her now,” Stan mumbled. He turned to walk towards a chair in the dining area until Kyle grabbed him by the arm.

“That’s enough moping, dude. Let’s go check out everyone’s diaries,” he said as he led Stan to the couch to chat with the rest of the group.

Kenny gave the couple an anxious look, then turned back to the group. Before they reached the couches, he put a hand on Kyle’s shoulder, stopping both him and Stan.

“Quick question: do you guys know what HCH stands for? I saw it on the app information section.”

“Har— ** _kgh!”_**

Kyle pushed Stan’s chin upwards, causing his teeth to painfully collide. Stan was lucky that he didn’t bite his tongue, but his depressive state ceased to bring out a startled and annoyed reaction.

Everyone’s eyes on them made Kyle realize his mistake. His words jumbled in his mind as he tried to fix the situation, but the pressuring stares just made it even more difficult to speak.

“Stan, this is getting out of hand,” he spoke in a pitch higher than his normal voice. Catching this, he cleared his throat and tried again. “We seriously need to talk and get this over with. Kenny, you come too.”

He dragged Stan and Kenny past the couple, who couldn’t get past their clearly suspicious behavior. “Gonna borrow your kitchen again,” he called out.

“There’s no way that little act of yours didn’t draw suspicion,” Kenny whispered. “You guys know all about this app, don’t you?”

“Yes,” Kyle answered, looking at the kitchen entrance. He couldn’t see anyone, but he couldn’t shake the feeling of someone listening in on them.

“So you’re just gonna keep secrets from me then?” Kenny huffed, folding his arms. “And here I thought we were friends.”

Kyle squinted at him in disbelief. “Who are you to talk about keeping secrets? We found out about your several-year-long Mysterion adventures _last month.”_

“It was a really big secret! I didn’t know if I could trust you! Look, just tell me who created the app.”

“Oh, so you can tell your friends Craig and Tweek? How could you even side with them after all the shit they’ve done?!”

“If you’re still mad about the school thing, you shouldn’t be. We all know it was really Heidi Turner’s fault.”

“No, not the school thing! Back at Wendy Testaburger’s apartment, we saw—”

“The diaries?” Craig wondered aloud.

The three turned to the entrance to see the whole group standing and staring at them. Though the others didn’t exactly know what was going on, they could sense arising conflict, hence their arrival to back up Craig and Tweek.

“Any information is good information,” said Tweek. “But if you refuse to share it with us, we’ll just assume that you intend to attack us, and we’ll have to kick you out. You too, Kenny.”

Craig pulled Tweek aside and whispered, “Not Kenny. He knows about you-know-what.”

“Kenny, you can’t be keeping secrets from both of us!” Kyle argued.

“So you admit that you’re plotting something!” Tweek exclaimed, pointing an accusatory finger at them.

“Pick a side, Kenny!” Kyle demanded. “If you’re helping them, then we can’t tell you anything!”

Kenny took a look at his options, considering the pros and cons of both sides.

The pros for Kyle and Stan: They were all best friends since they were toddlers, and they’ve gone on some crazy adventures together. The cons: now that Butters was gone, he had no one to talk to when he found himself third-wheeling the “Super Best Friends”. If disaster were to strike, they would save each other before even batting an eye towards him.

The pros for Craig and Tweek: They’re all good friends since childhood, and they were usually his next option to hang out with if one, Kyle and Stan weren’t paying attention to him and two, Butters was busy and or grounded. The cons: The dead bodies in Tweek’s backyard, plus all the other messed up occurrences that happened because of the game, did not paint these two in a good light.

One thing's for sure is that if the two sides were to fight, he’d have to either pick a side, or he’d have to get the hell out of there.

“You know, I’m not against having people fight over me, but…” Kenny pulled out his phone to check the time. “Oh shit, I forgot that I have to pick up Karen from the movies. Sorry guys. We’ll settle this some other time.”

“Didn’t she go to the movies with Tricia?” Craig pointed out.

“They’re young and need protection!” Kenny hollered, waving his hands around to clear the crowd. “I have to go!”

He bolted out of the house faster before anyone could catch him, though no one really attempted to do so after his wacky arm waving. The two sides just shrugged and glared at one another.

“We shouldn’t fight,” Stan interjected in his previous sullen tone. “We’re all users...” He glanced at Clyde, Token, and Jimmy. “...technically, so we should be working together for now.”

The couple didn’t know how to feel about this idea. They didn’t really want to fight right now, but it’s better to know that there will be a fight ahead of time rather than having one sprung up on them from someone they trusted.

“Stan, I’ve humored you with that idea up until now, but did you forget what we found at Wendy’s apartment?”

Tweek froze. He didn’t know what he was guilty of at the moment, but after everything that’s been happening to him up until this point, he learned to prepare himself for these kinds of situations.

“Those two _killed_ my little brother!”

Except that. He wasn’t prepared for that. And neither was anyone else because they all faced him with wide eyes, open jaws, and unbridled fear.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not much action, but I just really wanted to hurry up and post. Next chapter will be up by the end of the week hopefully, so look forward to that! 
> 
> As always, I hope you enjoyed!


	14. Fool Me Twice

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember when I said I'd finish this within the same week as the last chapter? I should stop making promises like that. But it's finished, so here you go! Enjoy!

**11/21/2018 01:33 PM [Tucker Residence, Kitchen]**

A serial killer, Wendy Testaburger, Clyde's dad, Chaos, and Ike. Those were the users that Craig remembered that have been defeated. Then there were the minions that Tweek killed, but none of them looked young enough to be Kyle's brother. Except for that little redhead that defended Chaos.

"Ike Broflovski…" Tweek remembered. "That was his name…"

There goes that theory. Craig may have not paid enough attention to Kyle to remember that he had a dark-haired Canadian brother, but the rush of guilt that bubbled up inside of him certainly didn't let him forget again, especially when  _he_ was the one to kill his brother. After all, who could forget their first kill?

Tweek just didn’t remember up until this point. Throughout the game, any information that he considered useless to the game or his life with Craig was deemed irrelevant to him. Things like schoolwork, fashion trends, and siblings of friends that he’s not really that close to were on that list, and he didn't think it would suddenly come back and bite him in the ass.

"Yeah, Ike," Kyle spat. "My fucking little  _brother_. You wanna talk about not sharing information while hiding something like this? Oh wait, silly me. Of course you'd want to hide the murder of someone's brother!"

The couple knew it wasn't their fault, but just like the whole Wendy ordeal, it could've been avoided. Actually, not really, seeing how only their diaries could warn them about the danger of letting a young Canadian boy into their home. Ike seemed to have planned everything out thoroughly, from escape routes to distractions. But this was Kyle they were dealing with. He was the same short-tempered ginger from when they were kids, and there was almost no chance with reasoning self-defense with him.

"The one time Stan lets me see Wendy's diary, I find out something that fucked me up more than you could imagine."

Kyle held out his hand for the diary in question, which Stan reluctantly pulls out of his front pocket. It was no longer in its protective Switch case, so he made sure to place it firmly in Kyle's hand before pulling away. It was already cracked, but he believed it to be disrespectful to Wendy's ghost— _if she had one, considering how it's still unknown whether she was considered dead or erased from existence_ —if he were to crack it again.

Once he found the proof he needed, he walked over to display it to the group, though the cracked screen had them pushing each other aside just to get a better look.

 **10/17/2018 11:10 AM [Tweak Residence, Living Room]  
[Case of Ike Broflovski]**  Ike Broflovski has been defeated. The case is now closed.

 **10/18/2018 10:42 AM [Tweak Residence, Living Room]  
[Case of Heidi Turner]**  The diary of the Fifth, Ike Broflovski, has been retrieved.

The entries he showed were at the bottom of the screen, and he held the phone a good distance away to prevent anyone from messing with it. He knew who was here right now, and he avoided suspicion by not eyeing that person for even a second.

"We visited Wendy Testaburger's apartment earlier and were given her stash of broken diaries. This…" He hands Wendy's diary back to Stan and pulls out Ike's from his own pocket. "…is what we found."

Seeing Ike's diary triggered the flashback in Craig's mind. Ike's muffled voice through his gas mask. Tricia's anxious pacing the other side of the door. His own fueled revenge overpowering his lightheadedness from being exposed to the poison.

And then there was the knife. Craig knew there was no other way to get the diary away from Ike to save Tweek. If he let him escape, he would surely pass out from the poisoned house, and that would be the end for him and Tweek.

But that knife. He could still feel the grooved handle in his clenched hand. He could see sharp steel digging past flesh and muscle. He could see the blood pooling around the wound and staining his shirt. Shooting and killing those armed officers, although it still created a pit in his stomach, was nothing compared to the close proximity of a victim struggling beneath him, beneath his knife. He had no idea what was really going on through Tweek's mind when he fought Chaos's minions, but he would be reassured if Tweek felt just as nauseous after watching the blood spew out of their bodies.

"I couldn't care less about who you guys decided to fight in this game… Actually, that's rude of me to say, considering the other players that you've killed. Remember Butters? Stan's dad? You might know him as the crazy drunk superhero in a red bodysuit," Kyle brought up as he slipped the diary back into his pocket.

The couple expected him to pull out their diaries as well for his proof, but that didn't happen. Even if the phones of past diary users were split up between Stan and Kyle's pockets, there was no way they could hide Chaos's tablet. Not unless it was under their shirts, but that's besides the point. Right now, they had their friends' now horrified eyes directed at them, which made it more difficult for the couple to give their side of the story.

"Cra-Craig? Tweek?" Jimmy said, his voice terrifyingly soft from the new wave of information.

"Nuh-uh, no," Clyde jumped in. "Craig and Tweek wouldn't go out of their way to kill them, even if they were part of the game. Like with my dad!"

Kyle winced, but lucky for him, it was subtle enough to go unnoticed. Not even Stan could give him away, since his face dropped even more from the earlier mention of his father.

Because of the divorce, he didn't see his dad every day, so his death was unheard of up until his final meeting with Wendy at the diner. His disappearance on the other hand was brought up one day when one of his dad's co-workers realized that he stopped showing up to work and no one could get in contact with him, so they asked Sharon. She knew nothing of it, which worried her, so they got the police involved. They never heard anything back.

He was more neutral when it came to his feelings of his dad, and he only knew bits and pieces of what was going on in his life, including the superhero bit he came across one night while walking home drunk from a party with Kyle. Even so, learning of his death from Wendy was a complete shock for him. Though he spent the days between the diner and the hospital attack thinking about how to help Wendy, he visited his dad's house with Kyle, unable to tell his mom the truth.

As he wallowed in despair, Kyle's raging faded into the background. He cared for Kyle enough to confront Tweek and Craig about Ike with him, but he had no intention of declaring them as his enemies. He just wanted the game to end, just like Wendy. He had no idea what his dad was thinking when getting involved in the Chaos case, but he hoped it really was for the sake of justice.

"They helped me get close enough to him for us to talk! Are you sure they killed Butters and Stan's dad?" Clyde turned to the couple with a hopeful look. "It's a misunderstanding, right guys?"

"Exactly!" Tweek cried out, finally able to find the words to defend himself and Craig. "Kenny was there, so you can ask him!" But Kenny already ran off, Tweek remembered, so he had to pray that his side of the story would suffice. "Anyway, we didn't know about that superhero guy being Stan's dad. We broke his phone because he was trying to attack us. Professor Chaos was actually Butters in disguise, and he broke his tablet diary to escape the cops! And Ike—”

"Cut the bullshit!" Kyle screamed. "Do you guys actually take into consideration the lives you affect when you actively take part in a game like this?" His glare darkened with each additional point he made. He refused to accept their explanations. " _Ike,_ of all people! Did I fucking do something to you guys to make you go after my little brother like that, because I sure as hell can't think of one god damn thing that would warrant something so… so fucked up!"

"We're telling the truth!" Tweek shot back.

"We may have forgotten that he was your brother," Craig admitted, holding up his hands in defense. "But to be fair—"

"He was just a kid!" Kyle interjected. "He was only thirteen! He was a fucking  _child!"_

"He tried to kill Tweek while I was gone!" Craig retorted, holding up his fists. "What did you want me to do, let him?! And I told you already, I didn't know he was your brother!"

"You could've left! Ran away! Called the cops! I'd rather have my brother in jail than dead!" Kyle claimed. "You… the game fucked you up, didn't it? Gave you a thirst for murder, didn't it?!" He lunged for the couple, his right fist clenched tightly, prepared to knock out anyone who stood in his way. He knew this idea was idiotic, with too many people against one, but the gears in his brain kept moving. The gears that were oiled by unconcealed fury, forcing him to make a decision that he knows he'll regret later. "Made you want to watch the life drain from someone's face,  ** _DIDN'T IT?!"_**

The couple braced themselves for the attack. The group stood behind them, prepared to defend them, despite still being unsure of the legitimacy of their words.

But Kyle wasn't stopped by any of them. The iron grip on his wrist didn't belong to any of the boys standing in front of him. Instead, he saw the white sleeve of his broken best friend, one that suffered more losses than him. Just by one, but still. When he turned around, Stan's sunken eyes were replaced with more determined ones, though not by much. The intent of stopping him was there, but it didn't appear as if Stan was going to try again if he were to break free of his grip.

Kyle did plan to break free, but his momentum dissipated the second his body was held back. He waited for Stan to speak, expecting some drawn-out speech about sparing your enemies.

Stan didn't meet that expectation. He reached into Kyle's pocket, surprising him in turn, and took Ike's diary out of it. He kept his grip on the protesting Kyle's wrist and opened up Ike's diary. It was much more damaged than the others, considering how the screen was almost completely shattered, but he still attempted to read the latest entry aloud.

 **10/17/18 11:10 AM [Tweak Residence, Living Room]**  
I die by the Second’s knife.  
**—DEAD END—**

"I knew it!" Kyle claimed, pointing a finger with his free hand at Craig. "If Heidi Turner called Tweek the First when she blew up the school, then the Second  _has_ to be Craig! You stabbed him, you fucking bastard! Stan, let go of me!"

But before he could try and rip away from Stan's grip, Stan continued reading.

 **10/17/18 10:30 AM [Tweak Residence, Backyard]  
** I set traps in the Tweak residence.

 **10/17/18 11:07 AM [Tweak Residence, 2nd Floor Hallway]  
** Second chases me around the house.

Now, all eyes were on Kyle. It's not that he knew exactly what Stan would reveal. In reality, Kyle only read the entries from Wendy's diary, then based his whole argument on that. A sound argument would take Ike's wrongdoings into consideration, that being what was written in his diary, which Kyle never actually read. And there was a reason for that.

Stan didn't make the situation worse by staring at Kyle like everyone else. He placed the diary back in Kyle's hand, but he kept his grip on his best friend's wrist. Stan wasn't attentive enough when they were at the apartment to know why Kyle didn't go through Ike's diary, but he did remember what Wendy told him about Ike, and he did know that Kyle's argument was flawed. Because of it, his rage was understandable, but it was still unwarranted.

 _"I’m not trying to sound heartless, but he did break into the house with the intention to kill, so I can’t say much to defend him.”_ Stan remembered Wendy's words about Ike from the diner, and that prompted him to stop Kyle from lashing out. Her death replayed in his mind. Her loss of composure, Detective Marshall's accusations, her phone case dropping to the floor piece by piece.

"It's just as she said," he muttered. "He intended to kill them."

Kyle looked down at the diary entries again. If he was being completely honest, he expected— _and feared_ —something like this. Ike was at the Cathedral, just like everyone else. He knew what Heidi Turner looked like, and he definitely knew about what she did to South Park High. And if he knew that, then he had to know that Craig and Tweek had to be users from hearing rumors of the incident, but they wouldn't know of his identity. Ike was too smart to carelessly throw around his identity as a diary user, even to his close friends, who he knew were in close contact with the enemy. Craig and Tweek wouldn't have found out about him, so they couldn't have targeted him. Kyle knew all of this, so he couldn't bring himself to look at Ike's diary and expose his crimes before confronting the couple.

He knew things got out of hand the second he learned Kenny was keeping secrets from them, and he knows that he's in the wrong here. Of course these two wouldn't sit back while someone was trying to kill them, but this person was his own brother. Why Ike decided to reveal himself as a user to Craig and Tweek instead of staying away from the conflict was beyond him.

Tears welled up in Kyle's eyes as he made a poor attempt at forcing his wrist out of Stan's grip. He was the angry-crier type, allowing his emotions to overtake him all at once. Defeated, he clenched his fists and teeth to try and stop the tears from falling. "He… I knew he was a user, but…"

The threat of an attack had greatly reduced, so the couple lowered their fists and relaxed their muscles. They turned to their friends, who were still speechless from the reveal. Aside from Tricia, none of them knew the story of the Fifth user, so they could neither defend or accuse the couple of anything.

“We’re really sorry,” Tweek said softly, but Kyle didn’t meet his apologetic gaze. “If we had known, we wouldn’t have…”

That was a lie, since Tweek remembered that fight. The doors and windows were blocked off, and the house was being filled with gas. Ike planned everything from the start, including that all-too-convincing innocent young boy act. As a friend of Tricia’s, Tweek let his guard down. His only options after falling into Ike’s trap was to break his phone or fight, and the answer was obvious.

To be honest, he wasn’t actually sure what he would’ve done if he knew the true identities of any of the defeated diary users, minus Garrison. The guy fucked with him so much as president that it almost led to his and Craig’s breakup, so he wasn’t too concerned to learn that he was secretly a serial killer. He guesses that this was a way to get back at all the people who slandered his name during and after his presidency, which is pretty fucked up. Not too concerned is just sugar-coating it. He didn’t care at all.

But Stan’s dad and Butters? Stan’s dad essentially trapped them in Chaos’s hideout with a horde of angry and probably very well paid minions. It was uncalled for to have  _Kenny_ erase his existence by smashing his phone instead of himself, though it was a heat of the moment action. Or so he thinks, since he doesn’t actually remember what was going through his mind at the time.

Butters was a different story. Heidi briefly explained multiple personality disorder to him, but he still didn’t quite understand. Butters was a nice kid. Terribly gullible, but still a nice kid. Sure, he could’ve stuck up for him more often, but he wasn’t one to jump into conflict unless it involved Craig or any of the guys he was closer to. The two weren’t close, as Butters preferred to either hang out with Kenny or try and win the respect of Stan and Kyle. Tweek noticed that they had a good friendship as children, but Stan and Kyle began to ignore him, even bully him once they entered the fourth grade.

He never would’ve imagined the innocent and kind hearted Butters was secretly Professor Chaos. At first, Chaos was just a guy who had his minions vandalize and steal for reasons unknown to him, so Tweek decided that all he needed to do was stay out of his way. After Wendy implemented her plan to capture Chaos, his diary showed him all the horrible things Chaos was capable of, namely the abuse he put Craig through. He wasn’t proud of his murderous rampage, but seeing Craig bruised and bloody was unforgivable. Even if he knew it was Butters behind the mask, he doubts that he would’ve been able to restrain himself.

“Well, you know what happened, so uh… Anyway... we’re really sorry, and we really do mean that.”

From the lack of a spiteful glare from Kyle, Tweek could tell he understood, or he at least didn’t blame him. Actually, he couldn’t tell, since Kyle’s whole body was facing Stan’s with his head hung so low that no one could see his face unless they were kneeling under him. At least he wasn’t yelling at him again, so that could be considered a good thing.

"You know…" Craig spoke up. "He said 'please don't hurt  _him'_ before he disappeared. I didn't know who 'him' was, but I think I do now."

"I think he's trying to say that Ike was trying to protect you from the other users," Stan explained, finally out of his slump for the sake of cheering up Kyle. "Maybe he thought they would be an easy target, or maybe they were the only users he knew of."

Kyle didn’t answer him. He stopped trying to fight off Stan and instead just stood there, eyes squinting at the kitchen tiles as the tears dropped onto them. Stan sat him down at the table and rubbed his hand on his back.

“I, uh… didn’t think you would actually kill someone,” Clyde whispered by Craig’s ear, though he was loud enough for the surrounding boys to hear. “Sure, there were those cops, but I mean… a kid?”

He wasn't trying to make Craig out to be the bad guy, especially after hearing that it was an act of self-defense, but no matter how much of a badass Craig tried to appear, Clyde knew he wasn't capable of murder. He also knew that Craig would do anything for Tweek, but hearing that he dirtied his hands to save Tweek wasn't part of "anything".

“Tricia was right outside the front door, and he started calling for her. I honestly thought he was trying to bring her inside the house to kill her,” Craig explained in a tone loud enough for Kyle to hear, but not in an obnoxious “I told you so” fashion. He knew the guy was hurting, and he didn’t hate him enough to be petty about proving him wrong. "I was really trying to just break his phone, but the thought of him trying to kill my sister, who’s not even part of the game..."

This new factor to the story had everyone's attention, especially Kyle's, whose head perked up at the mention of a sibling in trouble. He instantly felt regret for lashing out at them, but he had too much pride to apologize for doing so.

“Remember how I was in the hospital for poisoning?” Tweek added as he faced Token, who was the one to pick them up. “He tricked Craig into leaving, then filled the house with cyanide gas. I eventually breathed too much of it and passed out, so Craig had to deal with him.”

“But what about—” Jimmy began.

“Windows and doors were locked from the outside somehow. Electronic lock thing,” said Tweek. “I didn’t want to break any windows since my relatives lived there, but it got to a point where I had to hide and do so just to survive. I wouldn’t have made it, though, since the gas was already in my system.”

It wasn't his fault, but Kyle felt himself taking the blame for Ike's actions. On one hand, he was more than just touched to learn that Ike went through all that trouble to protect him. On the other hand… There were too many things wrong with Ike's plan. Kyle wasn't above breaking and entering, seeing how he found himself doing so often during his adventures, but gassing his opponents to death? Now that was some ironic and unspoken religious history territory.

At this point, Kyle blamed himself for not talking to Ike about the game. The day he saw the app on Ike's phone's lock screen was the day Heidi Turner attacked the school. Believing that eyes were tricking him, he ignored it. That was his first mistake. He quietly cursed himself for not warning him about the other users, but knowing Ike, warnings were useless if he already had his mind made up.

But then he wondered how Ike was outsmarted in the first place. According to Tweek's input on the story, it was only him versus Craig. If it was Ike's plan to gas his opponents in a locked house, then surely he would come up with a plan to hide from Craig so that he could slowly die from the poisoning.

"I wonder why he came out of hiding?" Tweek brought up, not knowing the full story due to his unconsciousness. "I mean, he could've locked the door and let you die. Not that I'm saying he should've, of course!"

"Maybe he thought that I would try to kick the door down?" Craig suggested. "You know, keep hiding in different places to reduce the chances of me finding him. Then again, my diary said that I'd catch him trying to hide in the bathroom next, so I was already ahead of him." He scrolled through his diary to prove this.

"It's still incredibly risky to leave your hiding place when you don't know where your opponent is, especially when they know the area better than you do," Token pointed out.

"Or maybe he didn't know how useful my diary was," said Craig. "It records pretty much everything I see, so maybe he didn't think I could find him so easily."

Kyle found that difficult to believe. Even he knew not to underestimate a user's capabilities, but he didn't know for sure what Ike was thinking. He didn't know when Ike vowed to protect him, nor did he know when Ike found out about his user status. All he knew was that thinking about Ike's sacrifice had his chest tightening. He couldn't breathe in this room that filled him with the regret of not taking action. He had to get out.

"Or maybe he was driven out of the room by the ghosts haunting it!" Clyde exclaimed, wiggling his fingers. He notes everyone's stares of disbelief and pouts. "Hey, I'm trying to lighten the mood."

"Ghosts? In my room?" Tweek questions, puzzled. His mind wanders back to the bodies and wonders if their spirits were haunting his house the entire time he was living there. That would explain why he was so paranoid of the thought of someone always watching him.

Tweek shakes his head, ignoring the confused looks from the group. It was the meth. The meth made him insanely paranoid, and the withdrawals made him less so. Depressed as hell, but not nearly as paranoid. 

He recalls how Craig was saved by Heidi, who claimed that she helps them because she likes them the most. Does she make people fight him just to work behind the scenes and ensure his victory? That would explain the stun grenade she left for him and Craig to fight Wendy with, so does that mean she forced Ike to leave the room and run into Craig?

But what about the recent interrogation with Detective Marshall? He expected her to come defend them to prevent their arrest, but she never came. Wasn’t she always watching them? Was she too busy plotting something else?

Come to think of it, things have been quiet since the Wendy incident. Aside from Kyle lashing out at them just now, nothing has happened. Either Heidi really was plotting something, or she was bugging someone else for a change… while plotting something. She could easily be manipulating her next target against them.

He glances at Stan, who’s still consoling Kyle at the kitchen table. He wonders if she’ll try to pit them against him and Craig next, but he isn’t entirely sure. All of the misunderstandings have been cleared, he believes, so maybe they can prevent conflict between each other. They are friends, after all. For the most part. If not an alliance, they could at least form a truce to stay out of each other’s way until all the other users are defeated.

In the end, he decided that he would never understand what was going through Heidi's mind. " _Entertainment", "my love",_ and giggling _._ Those were the only three things that described Heidi Turner. Though he was partially curious, he mostly dreaded what she had in store for him next. It was as if she had trials made just for him, and he felt that the only way the game would end is if he just collapsed to the floor like a rag-doll and allowed her to control him.

Again, he shakes his head. He doesn't want to think like that. Giving up meant that he didn't care enough to stay by Craig's side to protect— _fight alongside_ — him. He didn't forget Craig's wishes.

_“Don’t you EVER sacrifice yourself for me!!!”_

He could never forget those words. He never noticed how much he was hurting Craig with how often he jumped into the fire just to save him, but he just couldn't help it. If someone  _had_ to win this game, then he hoped it would be Craig. He would make sure of it.

But he couldn't let Craig know that. He had no intentions of committing suicide for Craig to win, but that didn't stop him from believing that to be the only option if unfavorable events were to occur. Craig would absolutely scream his ear off if he so much as hinted at risking his life for him, and he didn't like upsetting Craig. Even for the most trivial arguments, it stung when Craig was angry with him because it didn't happen often. Craig was very patient with him. He didn't deserve Craig.

Tweek slapped his cheeks with both hands, startling everyone. Craig, who had been allowing him to lose himself in his thoughts up until this point, grabbed his hands.

"Tweek, what are you doing?!"

Blinking back to reality, Tweek gave Craig a sheepish grin. "Sorry! Uh… aha… bad thoughts…"

_Don't say that! Craig will be upset! You do deserve him!_

"Negative thoughts or inapprop... inappropriately timed dirty thoughts?" Jimmy asked.

Instead of answering verbally, Tweek held up the number one, but everyone began to look up. "No!" he said. "I mean the first one."

"Self-deprecating thoughts?" Craig wondered, giving him an apprehensive look.

Tweek responded by looking at the ground nervously.

"Guys, I think you should leave," Craig announced. "That's enough unsupported arguments and dead people talk for one day. Everybody out."

As all the boys shuffled out without a word, Stan walked behind Kyle, who was hiding his red eyes from the group. When they crossed paths with Craig and Tweek, Stan stood in place as Kyle walked on without him.

"We'll talk tomorrow," Stan informed them before walking off.

"Like hell we will," Craig grumbled, though his snarky remark didn’t faze Stan.

The house cleared out within a minute, leaving the two home alone. While Craig locked the front door, Tweek leaned against the wall and slid down to the carpet. Craig returned to kneel to his level and placed a hand on his shoulder.

“What’s this about self-deprecating thoughts? You’re not blaming yourself for all of this, are you?”

“No, it’s not that…” Tweek tried to explain, shaking his head. “I mean, I definitely did a lot of terrible things, but we already talked about how I shouldn’t sacrifice myself for you or put people in danger without thinking…”

The words jumbled in his mind. He wasn’t in the mood to hear the same lecture again, but he didn’t know how to prevent it. He noticed Craig open his mouth to speak from the corner of his eye, so he babbled something incoherent to stop him.

“ _Ahhhhh_ —anyway… I just, uhh…” He gestured wildly with his hands as his mouth moved to the rhythm of his prolonged babbling. “I’m just trying to say that I think you’re great, and I’m lucky to have you!”

Craig raised an eyebrow.

“I promise that I’m not trying to put you on a pedestal or anything! We’re equals! I remember you saying something like that, and I’m not trying to say that my life means less than yours!”

“Honey…” Craig crooned, moving his hand to Tweek’s cheek. “I don’t want you thinking this way. Is there anything you want to get off your chest?”

_Everything. You’ve done everything you could to help me throughout my life, and the one thing I thought I could do to make it up to you is something that makes you sad. There’s no way I can see you as my equal._

Tweek remained silent. Craig was the better half of their relationship, and there was nothing that would change his mind about that fact. Craig was logical and patient. He was impulsive and… murderous. He wouldn’t call Craig delusional for seeing them as equals, but that’s just how he felt.

Though he didn’t speak, Tweek’s near tears expression told the story well enough for Craig to understand.

“I think you have a shit memory, Tweek.”

Tweek blinked. He expected more words of comfort, not a straight up insult, even if it was true. The tears that pricked at his eyes disappeared.

“How could you forget me barging into the interrogation room with a gun, shooting Testaburger in the arm, and starting that whole mess?" Craig brought up. "I was so worried about you, I acted on impulse and committed several crimes just to save you. I may have planned Clyde and Tricia’s parts in the operation, but stealing that guard’s gun was a risk that I was definitely not prepared for. I didn’t plan on shooting her, but I snapped when I heard her shoot at you. We’re both out here making dumb as fuck decisions, yet you think I’m the smart one? You’re dumber than I thought.”

Puffing out his cheeks, Tweek pushed Craig’s face back and folded his arms. Despite his pouting, he appreciated this method of comforting. He showed said appreciation by pulling Craig’s head back to kiss him.

“You’re good at that,” he said, blushing lightly. “Knowing what to say, I mean.”

“Eight years of practice,” Craig replied, grinning. “Now stop looking down on yourself. We’re supposed to be thinking about other things.”

 _No more flirting_ , Tweek realized. The more important matter at hand, Stan’s meet-up offer, was something that needed to be addressed.

“Earlier, I was thinking that we’d make a truce with them,” Tweek brought up.

Craig scowled at the thought, but he allowed Tweek to elaborate.

“Basically, we stay out of each other’s way. Let the other users fight it out until we’re the last ones left.”

The plan was a reasonable one, Craig was sure, but this was  _their_ luck they were talking about. Something bad was going to happen whether everything was cool between all of them or not. If he and Tweek played the game without expecting Heidi to fuck them over somehow, they’d already be dead by now. They were stuck in an obstacle course that probably ended with a million impaling spears at the finish line.

But Tweek looked hopeful about this plan, so who was Craig to ruin it with pessimism and give him more anxiety? He flashed his boyfriend a gentle smile and said, “I think that could work.” He was happy, yet guilty to see that Tweek sent back an appreciative grin. He couldn’t pretend everything was going to be okay forever, but that’s what Tweek needed to hear right now, so he’ll grin and bear with it.

After all, they were only words of hope, not a fact-based claim. It’s possible that Tweek didn’t believe in his statement 100%, which is fine with him. He might’ve been just as pessimistic about the world as Tweek, but he didn’t need to fuel the monster Tweek bears with at every waking moment.

The only thing Craig asks in return is that Tweek stay by his side until the very end.

**11/21/2018 01:50 PM [Cathedral of Causality]**

Eric was so amused by the conflict that had just taken place, he didn’t pay mind to the fact that Heidi had been staring off into space while playing with her hair, which she had actually been doing often for the past few days.

“The Seventh wants to meet with First and Second. A battle between friends is one of the worst kinds. It was right for me to choose players with connections to each other,” Eric noted, lying back in his throne. He glanced at Heidi for a moment, who was sitting in front of a mirror on the floor beside him, then went back to watching the players. “The death of a loved one is always a great ingredient for a recipe for revenge. Don’t you think so, Heidi?”

Heidi hummed in agreement, but she was much more focused on her hair. She had hair ties and bobby pins lying on her skirt, and her flower crown lied on the floor. A section of her hair was tied up, and she looped the small ponytail around the base, but she was never happy with the result. It always ended up forming some kind of horn, which annoyed her into doing it again and again, never growing tired of repeating the process.

This behavior was unlike Heidi. Eric expected her to float to his side and watch the argument play out, but she seemed too busy with her hair to care for drama. On top of that, she was sitting on the  _floor_ , rather than floating. There was something unusual going on. 

“My dear, if you want to change your appearance, you can do so with just the snap of your fingers. Why try and fix yourself manually?”

“I wanted to try fixing my hair like a human,” Heidi answered. She twisted the ponytail before looping it around, but it still didn’t give her the result she was looking for. It spun around as it uncurled and fell flat onto the back of Heidi’s head. “I don’t think I’m doing it right, though.”

 _Typical of a woman_ , Eric thought. “Why don’t you go visit the humans, then? Go see how you’d like to dress yourself.”

It has been a while since Heidi interacted with any humans, much less the players. She spent most of her time contemplating about various things pertaining to the game and her life in general. Visiting the human world would be good for her, as compared to the Cathedral, where nothing really happened.

If Eric wasn’t watching the players, he was keeping track of the rest of the population: rewarding towns with bountiful crops and hiding riches underground or in caves, or depleting resources for the sake of starting a war for laughs. Though he was incapable of feeling tired, he would still feel unmotivated to do anything besides watch the humans, so he would have Heidi do his “job” for him. Because this wasn’t a simple task by any means, Heidi was given nearly a third of his power upon creation just to do this task.

For now, Heidi took Eric’s offer to visit the human world. There was a specific place in mind that she wanted to visit, but as she prepared herself to leave, Eric had a request.

“Do make sure that the conflict between Seventh, First, and Second goes well,” he instructed. “And by that, I mean resume the conflict.”

“Of course, my love,” she replied as she transported out of the Cathedral.

A plan she had set long ago was already in motion. She didn’t feel like playing with any users at the moment, so she made her way to a place she had been thinking about for the past several days: Wendy Testaburger’s apartment.

 **11/21/2018 02:00 PM [Testaburger Residence, Kitchen]**  

The one time she wasn’t playing with her hair, Heidi was watching Red and the rest of the boys talk in this very building. Nobody died in here, so it didn’t reek of death, but it was still unsettling to be in. Wendy didn’t have any pets or children, and her next door neighbor was still in the hospital, so there was no one waiting for her. It was good for Heidi, at least, since she didn’t want anyone messing with anything while she was here.

The black purse Wendy brought to the Cathedral that one day lied on her bed, as she remembered that the boys left with the diaries in a beige grocery bag. She picked up the purse and slung it over her shoulder, much like she’d seen Wendy do, but she didn’t like how it looked with her outfit.

She walked to the closet in search for a brown purse that matched her sandals. In it, she found several pantsuits of different colors that Wendy wore to work, the cute lilac sweater and white skirt combo she wore at the diner with Seventh, and a white sundress that was completely inappropriate in this weather. For humans, anyway. Heidi is unaffected by weather, so she went ahead and grabbed the dress and took it with her to the floor length mirror.

Pleased with her appearance, she discarded her previous outfit and pulled the sundress over her head. After sending the abandoned white flowy top and emerald skirt into oblivion, she held her arms out and twirled the dress around.

“You were always the best one, Wendy Testaburger,” she smiled. “So kind and thoughtful to those who needed it most. Such a shame that things happened the way they did.”

Though a smile remained on her face, she clenched the fabric by her chest in her fist, but not hard enough to tear it.

“But you didn’t say the right thing. You weren’t supposed to taunt me. In the end, this was  _your_ fault.”

The footsteps by the door ended her monologue. From the curtained window, she could vaguely see Stan Marsh’s shadow staring at the locked door. She floated over and turned the lock as gently as she could as to not alarm him.

After Kyle sent him away to be alone with his thoughts, Stan arrived at Wendy’s door with hopes of finding a picture lying around to take home with him. He wasn’t going to leave Kyle alone the entire time, but he felt that having a photo could ease his current mental state enough to properly comfort him.

When he held his hand on the doorknob, he quickly realized that this was an apartment, not a house. The chances of finding a hidden key under a mat, in a plant, or somewhere in a garage were slim. Red opened the door for them with her own spare key earlier, but maybe they forgot to lock it on their way out. He bet on this possibility and pushed down the doorknob, surprised to see that they actually did forget to lock it. Checking his surroundings, he slipped inside the apartment and locked the door behind him.

While invisible, Heidi watched as Stan wandered around the apartment. She could sense his discomfort of trespassing, but he told himself aloud that he didn’t intend on doing anything weird. Covering her mouth to suppress a giggle, she followed him to Wendy’s bedside table, where he picked up a framed photo of Wendy and Bebe. Carefully, he removed the backboard of the frame and pulled the photo out.

 _Predictable, but an odd choice,_ Heidi thought.  _At least rip off the other girl._

But Stan didn’t seem to be bothered by Bebe’s face in his memento, despite Wendy claiming that she was her true love. After gazing at it longingly, he folded the photo into fourths and slipped it into his pocket. As he turned to leave, he faced Heidi, who was standing in front of the open bathroom door. He didn’t see her, nor could he touch her, but Heidi still moved aside as he entered the bathroom.

Heidi curiously peeked inside and saw that Stan was drawn to a black object shaped like a small doughnut on the counter.

_That’s it! That’s the thing I need for my hair!_

She waited for Stan to leave the bathroom so she could take the bun doughnut, but she didn’t expect Stan to put it on his head with a goofy smile.

“Hi, I’m Wendy,” he imitated playfully. “I’m a super smart detective chief and I put doughnuts in my hair all the time.”

This time, Heidi couldn’t suppress her laugh, which startled Stan. She appeared before him with her hands holding her sides and her head hanging forward as she allowed her laughter to echo throughout the apartment.

“Shit, what?!” Stan backed up against the wall, the doughnut gripped tightly in his hand. He figured he’d have to face her at some point, like Tweek and Craig had, but he didn’t expect it to happen now, especially when Kyle wasn’t with him. He wasn’t afraid of a fight, but supernatural entities were another story. Though he harbored intense feelings of disgust towards her for what she did to Wendy, he knew better than to pick a fight that he couldn’t win. “What are you doing here?!”

“What am  _I_ doing here?” Heidi questioned. “What are  _you_ doing here? You don’t live here.”

Stan unconsciously glanced at the pocket containing the photo. “Just picking up something. Nothing weird.”

“Like a photo?”

“It’s a memento! It’s not weird!”

Heidi chuckled again. “Don’t worry, Seventh,” she assured as she regained her composure. “I just want that thing in your hand.”

Stan looked down at the hair tool. Not a single idea as to why she could want this crossed his mind, but more specifically, why did she want  _this_ hair tool. He didn’t know much about what she was capable of outside of what he had seen at the school, but between dark shadows, gusts of winds, and explosives, surely accessories were on the list of things she could create.

But of course, he knew better than to keep a god waiting. He handed her the doughnut and watched her leave the room without another word. To his surprise, she spun on her heel and walked all the way out of the apartment. No teleporting. She just pushed down the doorknob and walked out the door, though she didn’t bother to close it. From the entryway, he continued to watch her walk to… wherever the hell she was going.

He had so many questions.

* * *

 

 **11/22/2018 12:20 PM [Marsh Residence, Outside]**  

With the intent of forming a truce, Tweek and Craig responded to a text from Stan asking them to come over. Having only been to Stan’s house in a group, the couple couldn’t help feeling anxious, especially given their circumstances. As a precaution, Craig checked his diary about the meeting, which only said they were going to talk about the truce, share information, and Stan’s brief encounter with Heidi.

“If they have the diaries Wendy collected, does that mean they have the upper hand?” Tweek whispered as the two walked to the front porch.

“I don’t know, but something’s weird about these entries,” Craig whispered back. “It doesn’t say much about the other diaries. Just says that they’ll accept our truce, and we’ll all go about our day. No way that’s true.”

One creaky step on the porch was all it took for Stan to swing the door open, grab Tweek’s hand, and pull him inside. Craig chased after him and ended up in the living room with Kyle and a tote bag sitting in the middle of a table. He figured that must be the bag of diaries he read about earlier.

“So I hear you ran into Heidi Turner?” Tweek brought up, alerting both Craig and Kyle.

“How did you hear about that?” Kyle questioned, leaning forward in his seat.

“You read Craig’s diary before coming here, didn’t you?” Stan guessed. “His entries are about his surroundings. I had to find that out for Wendy.”

“So you suspected us. Honestly, that’s a good call,” said Kyle. “Your diary probably says that you guys will be fine, so you can believe its word over ours.”

“Anyway, back to Turner,” Craig interrupted. He and Tweek took a seat on the floor, across the table from Stan and Kyle, who sat on the couch.

“We were in Wendy’s apartment before we visited you guys, but I went back to grab something,” Stan explained. “While I was there—”

“Why did you go back?” Tweek interrupted.

“For a photo!” Stan snapped, jumping from his seat. “It’s just a photo! It wasn’t for anything weird!”

Kyle grabbed the back of his sweater and tugged him back down. “ _ANYWAY_ , he ran into Turner in the apartment, but she didn’t pick a fight with him  _or_ hint at a plot to take any of us down. She just took some hair thing from Wendy’s bathroom and left.”

“And she  _walked_ out, dude,” Stan added. “I don’t know where she was going, but she just kept walking. Doesn’t she like, have a thing for teleporting?”

“That  _is_ weird,” Craig noted.

He and Tweek would know better than anyone about Heidi’s tendencies, and appearing out of nowhere whenever she felt like it and floating around were at the top of the list. But hearing that she didn’t do or say anything to Stan was even weirder. She had to be plotting something, but what?

Tweek eyed the bag on the table, directing everyone else’s attention to it. Kyle took the hint and poured the contents out of the bag. He figured that they were already broken, so it wasn’t a big deal to him. As he did so, Stan placed Wendy’s phone into the pile as well.

“Detective Marshall told me about Wendy interrogating Tweek,” said Stan. “She said it started off with her bringing Tweek to the station to talk to Wendy about the murder in the woods. Did she talk to you about diary stuff?”

“Yeah, she did,” Tweek answered. He leaned forward to spin the diaries around to face him. “But if you want information from us, then you have to accept being in a truce with us.”

Stan and Kyle gave each other a look, much like the way Tweek and Craig always did.

“You stay out of our way, and we’ll stay out of yours,” Craig clarified. “So don’t start shit with us if you want us to play nice.”

“I think it’s safe to assume neither of us really trusts the other, so if you’re willing to uphold your side of the deal, then so will we,” said Kyle. “What do you say, Stan?”

“I’m fine with it,” he answered.

Both sides stared each other down, neither of them cracking under pressure. In this situation however, a broken truce won’t end in winner or loser. It was much more serious than that.

They all stood and held out their hands. Tweek shook Kyle’s, and Craig shook Stan’s. As they returned to their seats, Tweek slid Wendy’s diary towards his end of the table. The others watched as he pressed the home button, slid his finger up from the bottom of the screen, then tapped on the diary icon.

“Open up everyone else’s diary, then scroll to the very top,” he instructed.

Except for Craig, who Tweek had explained this to while hiding out at Tweek Bros, the others were confused about the purpose of the instructions given. Still, they complied, and they were surprised by their findings.

“She never told me about this,” Stan pointed out as he pulled out his own phone to try it out.

Kyle stared at the ominous one-word message at the top of Ike’s diary, then leaned over to see Stan’s. “‘For’ on Ike’s, ‘Eye’ on Stan’s…” He pulled out his own phone to see what was written on his. “And ‘Eye’ on mine… Now that I think about it, I remember seeing that when my diary started predicting the future, but I didn’t think anything of it. The whole ‘future diary’ thing was weird in itself.”

“Wait, all of the diaries say something different. Why do yours say the same thing?” Tweek questioned. “Actually, you never told us what kind of diaries you have. We don’t even know your numbers. Since we’re having a moment of full disclosure right now, you have to tell us.”

“Dude, calm down!” Kyle huffed, rolling his eyes. “We have the same number. We’re both the Seventh. We just write dumb things about each other, alright?” He leaned towards Stan and whispers, “five minutes in, and he already wants to kill us.”

Tweek replied with a glare, but he was more focused on what they had just said. How could they  _both_ be the Seventh? More importantly, how come  _they_ get to have the same number? Just because they write about the same thing? It made sense, but he wasn’t happy about it.

He spun to address the issue with Craig, but Craig already had some thoughts of his own.

“You guys write about each other, despite crushing on other people?” Craig pointed out. “Either that’s just ironic, or you’ve got some unresolved issues.”

Before the now red-faced and fuming Kyle could give an excuse, Stan held him back.

“It was just for blackmail purposes,” Stan explained, using the same excuse he gave to Wendy. “It’s not creepy like Tweek’s."

Now Tweek was the one fuming, but he couldn’t defend himself. Even  _he_ knew it was creepy, but Craig already knew about his diary. Hell, he even used his diary for a while, so if he had concerns, he would’ve said something by now.

“Let’s just get back to the point,” Tweek sighed. He placed his phone on the table and scrolled to the top, just like everyone else. “Mine doesn’t say anything, and while we were hiding from the police, I found out that Craig’s doesn’t either.” Craig placed his phone on the table as Tweek continued. “It’s just another one of Turner’s little games. She told us that it was, but she didn’t explain it at all. I’m telling you now because you’re the only other users we know, and I’m almost 100% sure she’s gonna try and bait all of us to fight. That’s why we need this truce.”

While Tweek’s words sounded believable, Stan and Kyle were still unsure. They knew everything that happened at the school: Heidi held Craig hostage, and Tweek was forced to set off her mines. It’s likely that Heidi targeted the couple because they were the first to defeat someone, which made the boys pity them.

“You think she’s still mad that Tweek threw a knife at her and cut her face?” Stan wondered, causing the rest to recall that moment.

“You weren’t there, but remember when I told you that she randomly appeared in front of us right after all of that happened?” Kyle asked as he turned his attention back to the other diaries. He knelt in front of the table and spun them back around to face him. “Her face didn’t have the cut, so I’m pretty sure she’s capable of healing. Or regenerating. Whatever.”

“Surprised you remembered that,” said Tweek.

“Yeah, well, you were too busy trying to kill her.”

“With good reason!” Tweek claimed, slamming his hands on the table.

Craig held him back, something he felt that he was going to have to do a lot of today. “Can you stop trying to piss us off?!” he snapped at Kyle. “We’re trying to be nice here!” Kyle might’ve still been grieving over his brother, but to dig up something that couldn’t easily been avoided was a low blow, and Craig wasn’t going to put up with that for much longer.

Kyle just ignored them. Figuring that was the best behavior that they were going to get out of him today, Tweek took a breath to let it go.

“Well, she’s been obsessed with me ever since,” Tweek muttered. “Keeps saying that we’re the only ones who can make the game progress while actually being interesting. Seriously, it’s like she’s treating me like a fucking lab rat.”

When Stan mentioned that Heidi suddenly appeared at Wendy’s apartment while he was there, Tweek became more conscious of his word choice, fearing that she might decide to drop by if she hears something appealing. Nothing happened, so he lowered his guard just a little bit.

As the others spoke around him, Kyle was focused on cracking the secret message.

"By the way, what do your diaries say?" he asked the couple.

The two scrolled to the top of their diaries and showed what was written.

 **09/30/2018**  
**12:00 AM [Tucker Residence, Craig's Room]**  
Craig is sleeping.

 **07:00 AM [My House, My Room]**  
My alarm goes off.

"Doesn't say anything," said Craig. He swiped down for additional proof, revealing nothing once again.

Kyle isn't sure to consider that as suspicious or immediately pin it as Heidi's plan, so he returns to the diaries in front of him. He arranged them in numerical order, including his own. Knowing that Stan’s said the same thing, he didn’t bother adding it to the line.

_Third, Fourth, Fifth…_

Seeing Ike’s cracked diary had his fists clenching, but he took a breath and relaxed them. He had a puzzle to solve, and letting his personal grievances get in the way wasn’t going to help.

_...Sixth..._

Thinking back on it, he wasn't very kind to Butters. He never dealt any physical harm, but he wasn't above insulting him or letting him take the fall for his and Stan's antics. He never stepped in to stop the bullying, he never took his fears or worries seriously, and he rarely took his feelings into consideration. Butters was just a scapegoat to him, nothing more, nothing less, and he hated himself for thinking this way. It made Kenny's grievances for him much more painful.

_...Seventh…_

While he did have contact with the Eighth, now was not the time to ask what was written at the top of their diary, especially with nosy Tweek in the vicinity.

Then there was Ninth, Heidi, who was pretty much impossible to get ahold of. That girl listened to no one, besides the god, so there was no need to even try and lure her in. Plus, she might’ve been a player, but he didn’t really believe she had a diary.

_...Tenth…_

He kept his eyes on the diaries. Looking up for even a second would draw suspicion.

As for Eleventh, he had no idea who that could be. The figures at the Cathedral stage were so dark and distorted, he couldn’t even make out what this person’s gender could be. Not even their voices were distinguishable.

_...and Twelfth._

Stan’s dad was bizarre. There was no other way to describe him without insulting him because aside from the man’s eccentricity, he was still dead, and Kyle wasn’t going to speak ill of the dead.

_Lined up, it says “First The For Out Eye To Make”…_

He folded his arms and leaned back, pressing his fist to his lips. Without the other diaries, it still sounded like a code, but it mostly sounded like gibberish

Tweek poked his head in Kyle’s personal space. “Did you figure it out yet?” When Kyle replied by signing “one moment”, he backed off and returned to Craig’s side.

The word that stood out the most to Kyle was “eye”, which was on his own. Out of all of them, that one would be the most unusual to see as a one-word code.

_Was it referring to the actual body part, or an action? Eye… To look at? To keep an eye on?_

He separated Sixth and Seventh, then switched them so that it read, “eye out”. Humming thoughtfully, he started ordering the line in reverse.

_Make To Eye Out For The First…_

The other boys looked at the new lineup curiously, though they still didn’t understand what was happening. Craig tried to get a closer look, but he was met with an annoyed reaction from Kyle, who didn’t like how his space was being invaded again. He backed away like Tweek, though he kept his irritation on his face fully noticeable in case Kyle decided to look up again.

_Eye out for the first…_

_Keep an eye out for the First…_

_Make…_

_Make sure to keep an eye out for the first._

According to Stan’s diary however, he knew ahead of time what Tweek was going to say about the diaries. He knew there was going to be a secret code to crack, but he didn’t know what it was going to be until now. Stan’s diary also said that he was going to keep quiet until he did more research.

_But defying the diary would elicit a reaction from them, wouldn’t it?_

Kyle’s head shot up, alerting the group. “Make sure to keep an eye out for the First! Make sure to keep an eye out for Tweek!” he announced, pointing his finger at Tweek. As he spoke, the static sound rang through the air.

 _“WHAT?!”_ Tweek cried, ignoring the sound and rushing to the other side of the table.

Craig checked the new entries and glared at his findings.

 **12:38 PM [Marsh Residence, Living Room]**   **  
** Heidi Turner’s puzzle is calling out Tweek.

 **12:40 PM [Marsh Residence, Living Room]**   **  
** Tweek’s acting makes Kyle kicks us out of the house.

So much happened in the span of two minutes that his diary couldn’t decide which was the most important event to list. Craig wondered if it would’ve been more useful if he went into more detail in his entries, but it wasn’t the time to think about that.

“See? Make  _sure_  to  _keep_   _an_ eye out for the First,” Kyle explained, pointing to the diaries as he went by and pointing at the table for Eleventh, Ninth, and Eighth’s code. “What the hell is  _that_ supposed to mean, huh? Now why would we have to watch out for  _you_ , Tweek?”

“Weren’t you listening?” said Craig. “We  _just_ said that Turner is out to get us, especially Tweek. Stop trying to fucking start something!”

“You know what? It’s fine.” Tweek returned to his seat and pat the floor for Craig to do the same. “At least we’re all here, and we  _agree_ to not let Heidi Turner pin us against each other.”

“So for the sake of full disclosure, you’d tell us if there’s any reason to suspect you, right?” Stan asked.

“You have no reason to suspect us,” Craig answered with Tweek nodding fiercely for support. “We’ll tell you everything as long as you do the same. That’s what we agreed on.”

“We’ll start with secrets that other people are holding for us,” Kyle began. “So what have you guys been talking to Kenny about?”

Tweek kept his poker face on, but the split second that Craig lost his composure with an eyebrow raise was all that Kyle needed to see. He wasn’t going to make an accusation solely based on a reaction, of course. He was going to have to do some research on his own.

“It’s Kenny’s secret, not ours,” Tweek lied, oblivious to Craig giving away his act. “If he doesn’t trust you to keep a secret, then that’s on you.”

The urge to call out Tweek on his bullshit was strong, but Kyle endured it. If he was going to get information out of Kenny, he was going to have to make sure that none of them suspected a thing.

So instead, he put on a glare. He might not have been a theater-level actor like Tweek, but he was good at lying. He had to be to hide all the adventures he had from his mother.

“Low fucking blow,” he spat as he folded his arms. “Why don’t you guys just leave? Talk to your buddy Kenny?”

Tweek didn’t break character for a second. As he stood, he held his hand out for Craig and left the Marsh home without looking back. He didn’t have to insult their friendship with Kenny, but Kyle’s behavior the entire time left a bitter taste in his mouth.

“I wanna feel bad for Tweek, but he was such an ass just now, I'm finding it hard to,” Stan comments, plopping down on the couch. "I mean, Turner keeps setting up ways to make him fight. He could've been good friends with Wendy, even if there was probably no way to stop the game."

Kyle hummed as he gathered all the diaries and placed them inside of the bag. When he finished, he joined Stan on the couch, leaning forward with his elbows on his thighs.

"You said her name without becoming gloomy right afterwards," Kyle noted. "Finally at stage five: acceptance. That's good." He pat Stan on the shoulder, though he kept his gaze on the bag of diaries.

"Don't get me wrong. I'm still very much upset over the whole thing, it's just..." Stan glanced at Kyle, who stared at the bag with a troubled look. "I can't stay depressed when you're clearly in pain, too. At least one of us has to not be sad so they can cheer up the other."

Kyle chuckled softly as he sat up straight. "You don't have to do that for me."

"Of course I do. You're my super best friend, man," Stan claimed, grinning widely as he pat Kyle on the back. "You're sad, I've got your back. I'm sad, you've got my back. Not like how Craig cheers up Tweek, but you know."

"Oh, I'm sorry, did you want me to kiss your forehead and hold your head against my breasts?" Kyle joked, pushing his pectorals together and leaning towards Stan.

"You call those tits? Have you seen these?" Stan copied the motion and began pivoting his torso side to side with the intention of hitting Kyle with his elbows.

"You're showing off what your lack of daily workouts have done to you?"

"Body-shaming now? I thought you were better than that!"

The boys burst into laughter until Stan fell silent for a moment, prompting Kyle to tilt his head in confusion. He watched Stan turn his gaze to the floor and bite his lip, but before he could ask what's wrong, Stan spoke up.

“Hate to bring the mood down, but... Suppose we do find out what they're hiding, and suppose it’s something really bad,” he said. “Would we… have to kill them too?”

“We?” Kyle repeated, surprised to hear that Stan was already imagining himself in a plan like this. “I mean, hopefully it won’t come to that. There’s a shit-ton of guilt that comes along with murder, especially when you find out that they were innocent…”

Both boys leaned back on the couch, sighing as loudly as they could to relieve themselves. The reality of their crime hit them again, and they couldn't pin it on the game anymore. Blind revenge isn't something that goes well in court, but the thought of them easily getting away with it due to the lack of evidence took a toll on their consciences.

“You don’t have to be a part of this plan,” Kyle assured. “I’m sure I can—”

“Don’t be a dumbass,” Stan interjected with an eye roll. “Those two wouldn’t separate even if their lives were on the line. If you’re gonna fight, then I’m coming with you.”

Though Stan wasn’t nearly as stubborn as he was, Kyle didn’t feel the need to try and talk him out of it. Craig and Tweek really were the perfect team, and he’d be stupid to try and fight them on his own. Part of him still wanted to avenge Ike, but even he didn’t know if having another murder on his hands would be the right answer anymore.

He supposes that this could be a problem for tomorrow. This wasn’t the time to make a rash decision.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Petty ginger's at it again, but can you blame him for being so suspicious? Things aren't looking up for our favorite couple, that's for sure.
> 
> Anyway, thanks for reading! Please look forward to the next update!


	15. Connection Error

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back and (not-so) better than ever! It's been over a month! Super sorry for the wait, everyone. I wasn't busy. I just had terrible writer's block.

******11/22/2018 12:20 PM [Marsh Residence, Outside]**

If that meeting settled anything, it’s that the two teams were no longer allies. As long as they couldn’t have full disclosure between them, this alliance was doomed to fail from the start. With that being said, the couple needed to watch their backs from now on.

Throughout their walk home, Craig hadn’t said a word, which began to worry Tweek into thinking that he went too far with his act. He justified his actions with the fact that he wanted to keep the backyard secret safe until they learned more about it themselves, but there was no way that the SBFs weren’t going to snoop around. He didn’t know their exact relationship with Kenny after Kyle’s demanding that he not keep secrets from them, but the three of them have been friends since they were toddlers, so it’s possible that some reconciliation could happen within a matter of minutes. That just made matters worse.

As Tweek fretted over the possibilities, Craig was caught up in his own thoughts. He tried to figure out when everything went sour, because Tweek bringing up Kenny wasn’t it, or at least that’s what he believed. He suspected that the turning point was the diary change, which was triggered when Kyle solved Heidi’s puzzle.

“So…” Craig spoke up, causing Tweek to jolt. “I think you know this already, but I’m pretty sure this alliance won’t happen.”

Tweek sighed. “I know. I mean, I didn’t even need the diary to tell me that. I just hoped it would work, you know?”

“I know. Having them at least back off would’ve been great, but we need to think of a new tactic now.”

The couple groaned as they continued walking, both returning to their respective thought bubbles. Craig tried recalling the previous events with hopes that he could track down a red flag that he may have missed, which brought him back to the diary change.

“Babe, don’t you think it’s weird how the diary changed as soon as Kyle figured out the puzzle? My diary said he would right after he did, then it said we would be kicked out. Isn’t that weird?”

Tweek was too busy being in shock about the puzzle’s message to notice the diary static, but he agreed anyway, hoping Craig would go into more detail.

“I had a feeling they were skeptical about allying with us to begin with, but it seems like they changed their minds as soon as they solved it,” Craig continued. “How did their diaries not warn them about us before they met with us? Or do you think they knew all along and decided to intentionally change the future to start something?”

Though confused for a moment, Tweek took the time to take in Craig’s words and understand them properly. The diaries were much more complicated than he originally thought, and he knew better than to walk into a situation against a fellow user with the belief that the current entries would stay the same. With that in mind, Craig’s point about the diary change was strange.

“We should think back to what was happening before the change,” Tweek suggested. “Kyle was looking at the diaries and trying to figure out the message. Altogether, we had…”

Using his fingers, he counted the users he remembered facing. _Mine and Craig’s, Garrison, Wendy, Ike, Chaos, Stan and Kyle’s, Lord E. We never got Clyde’s dad’s diary._

“...nine diaries, eight if you put Stan and Kyle’s diaries together.”

Also using his fingers, Craig counted again. He furrowed his brow when something didn’t add up.

“Even if you put their diaries together, there were still nine of them there,” Craig recalled. “I already know what ours look like, Garrison’s was this kind of plain blue, Wendy’s was pink and sparkles, Ike’s had the Canadian flag, Chaos had a tablet, Stan’s had the Denver Nuggets logo, and Kyle’s was some light blue. Then there was a black case and a clear case, which I’m sure belongs to Clyde and Stan’s dads.”

“Clyde’s dad?” Tweek questions. “We never got that diary…”

Then it clicked. Wendy didn’t have the diary during the interrogation, but Stan and Kyle did. Either Wendy was hiding it, or the boys had it all along.

“You’re thinking that they were the ones who killed Clyde’s dad, aren’t you?” Craig assumes.

“Or Wendy, but somehow, I don’t think that’s the case,” said Tweek. “She had to be blackmailed into killing us, and knowing Heidi, I don’t think a man in the woods with a bunch of dogs seems like an interesting enough match-up against Wendy.”

“But Stan and Kyle got the diaries from Wendy’s apartment,” Craig corrected. “I remember you telling me which diaries were there, and Clyde’s dad’s diary wasn’t one of them. If we need to pin a motive on them, I’d say…” He folded his arms and put his knuckles to his lips while he hummed his way to a conclusion. “...it’s related to Kyle’s brother. Kyle’s much more rash than Stan or Wendy, and he seems the type to lash out at the first possible suspect. My guess is that he started participating in the game the second he found out about the murder because the biggest suspect was a user.”

“So you’re saying he made an irrational decision fueled by revenge?”

“Big possibility, but don’t take my word for it. Aside from the diary being there, there’s not enough evidence.”

Tweek began humming to himself. If there wasn’t enough evidence, then he was just going to have to look for some himself. There’s no way those two are innocent, and if their suspicions are right, then he’s not going to let them get away with it.

Craig knew the look on Tweek’s face was going to lead to something bad, but he wanted to prove to Tweek that he trusted him, so he kept his mouth shut. Tweek promised that he wouldn’t get into danger, so he was going to believe in him.

Or he’ll try, anyway. He’ll need to cover some ground rules one more time when they get home.

* * *

**11/22/2018 02:41 PM [McCormick Residence, Kenny’s Room]**

_DING!_

Kenny rolled his eyes. He didn’t even have to look at his phone to see that it was another message from the group chat between him, Kyle, and Stan.

Karen paused her story as she waited for Kenny to answer the phone. He instead nodded at her to continue.

“So I was wearing one of mom’s old shirts, and Tricia said it wasn’t cute, so she gave me the clothes I’m wearing now. She says we should get part-time jobs together when we’re 15 so we can buy cute clothes, but I heard somewhere that there are people that hire at 14–”

A series of notification tones rang consecutively, interrupting Karen’s story again. Four messages popped up on Kenny’s lock screen, but instead of checking the messages, he placed the phone on his dresser and set it to silent. He’d much rather spend time with his little sister rather than get in the middle of what might be an inevitable battle between users.

“A group chat?” Karen asked, tilting her head curiously at the abandoned phone.

“Yep,” Kenny replied. “They’re arguing about something dumb again, so I don’t want to bother with them anymore.”

“Ahh.”

Karen returned to the task at hand: chatting about her day to the mellow beats playing on Kenny’s phone as she brushed cheap bubblegum polish onto his nails. Her hands were too shaky to call herself a professional by any means, but Kenny didn’t mind her prolonging the activity to frequently stop and wipe away the polish on his nail folds. He was patient, or rather, he was dozing off to the music to really notice. He would take calming acoustics over incessant buzzing any day, and setting down his phone away from him was the best decision he had made all afternoon.

“Hey, Kenny?” she said suddenly with a noticeable drop from her cheery tone.

“Hm?”

“Is being a police officer scary?”

Where Karen was going with this was no mystery. Unless the town you live in is notorious for peace in all shapes and forms, law enforcement will never be for the weak hearted. Even if you’re not in the front lines of the action, you’ll still be exposed to unfavorable situations, and the many deaths and disappearances going on in this town didn’t ease the public.

It’s not like Kenny joined for the thrill, however. He knew why these deaths and disappearances were happening, and he knew how to avoid them, but Karen didn’t. He’s sure that Tricia hasn’t mentioned the game to her because she would’ve told him about it by now, and it’s not his place to fill her in either. The only advice he had given her for this situation was to follow the buddy system, whether it was having Tricia by her side or himself.

“Well actually, I’m more like a junior detective,” he corrected. “Also no, not really. I don’t get to run around with a gun or anything.”

Kenny noted Karen’s silence, the uneasiness apparent from her blinking slowly, exhaling slowly, and shifting her eyes away from his hand. She capped the polish, then grabbed his hand with both of hers, making sure not to mess up the fresh paint.

“It’s just that… I’m scared for you,” she admitted, keeping her gaze on the back of his hand. “That one officer disappeared too, just like Ike.”

Her grip tightened. Her sleeves began pressing against the paint, but she didn’t seem to care. She hung her head low, hiding downcast eyes and a frown. She didn’t want to suddenly bring down the mood, but this had been bothering her for a while now.

“I don’t have time to be worrying about that when there’s money to be made,” Kenny smiled, ruffling Karen’s hair with his free hand. “If I’m a great junior detective, then soon I can be a great real detective. A real career right out of high school!”

“Really?” she asked, her head perking up. “Is that how it works?”

Of course not, but Kenny wasn’t going to continue letting the naive girl worry about him.

“I think I still have to go to the police academy, but whatever. Details. The point is, I’m one step closer to a career that can support us, so I’m not gonna let some disappearances scare me. I’ll fight whoever’s responsible, you’ll see!”

A smile forced its way onto Karen’s lips. She peeled her sleeve away from the ruined manicure and grabbed an acetone-soaked cotton ball to fix the damage she had done. Though his arm was growing tired from being held up for so long, Kenny remained still, allowing Karen to wipe off the polish.

“You know, I know someone really strong and really brave,” she grinned as she pushed the cotton ball down onto the nail bed. “If I run into him again, I can ask him to protect you!”

“What? You’re trying to set me up?” Kenny teased.

“Oh my _god_ , Kenny!” Karen laughed, poking him on the cheek. “I don’t know how to set people up! Besides, he wears a mask, so I’ve never seen his whole face. I wouldn’t set you up with someone whose face I’ve never seen!”

“Hey, if my baby sister trusts this guy, then I don’t care if he’s ugly. It’s all about inner beauty, after all.”

“He’s a good guy, I promise. Remember when we had to go to that foster home with those mean people that sprayed kids with Dr. Pepper? He got the cops to come see all the bad stuff that was happening and served justice!”

Just as she finished wiping the paint off of the last of Kenny’s nails, someone started knocking on the door. It was obvious that it was Kyle, since he made an effort to call out Kenny’s name as he knocked. Kenny rolled his eyes and sighed as he stood. There was no way he could ignore Kyle now, so he grabbed his phone and headed for the door.

“We’ll finish later, okay?”

“Be careful with your other hand!” Karen warned. “This nail polish chips really easily!”

Kenny left Karen with the paint and, before opening the front door, put on an annoyed expression. Upon opening the door, Stan and Kyle were met with a displeased Kenny, who was tired of seeing their names show up on his phone.

“You haven’t been answering your phone,” Kyle pointed out.

“You don’t say,” Kenny sighed, rolling his eyes. “So now I gotta tell you guys that it’s not my secret to tell to your faces, then?”

While Kyle didn’t appreciate the sarcasm, he could understand where Kenny was coming from. He _did_ send several messages with the same subject, just worded differently to avoid repetition. “Can we talk to you for a bit?” “Can we ask you something?” “Are you busy right now?” “This is important.”

But to Kyle, this was important. He hated not having answers, and he had the two biggest questions that needed to be solved: are Craig and Tweek bad people, and why? Whatever secret Kenny was hiding for them would undoubtedly be a great hint, or maybe it would even be the answer he was looking for. He may have come to accept that Heidi and the game played a large role in their reputation, but that didn’t change the fact that his and Stan’s lives may still be in danger if they didn’t make sure that the couple could be trusted.

The boys invited themselves inside and shut the door behind them.

“This is important to us, you know? We just want to know what the secret is so we can trust them,” Kyle explained.

“If you read our earlier texts, I told you that they wanted to make a truce with us,” Stan added. “So what do you think?”

“I really don’t want to be involved,” Kenny groaned. He plopped onto the tattered couch and tried to scroll through Twitter just to put his attention on something else.

He could just say that it’s fine to trust the couple, but to be perfectly honest, Kenny wasn’t completely sure. Aside from the bodies situation, Tweek going berserk if anything happened to Craig was still on the table.

After sharing a look, the boys joined him on the couch on either side and leaned towards him.

“We should talk for a bit then, huh?” said Kyle. “Well, actually…”

He glanced in Karen’s direction, who was walking towards the open door. She caught his look, nodded, then closed the door. The boys could hear loud pop music, but it wasn’t loud enough to disturb their conversation. When her parents weren’t home, this was Karen’s way of saying that she wasn’t listening. Otherwise, her dad would yell at her to turn it down, then continue to yell at her mother.

“Okay, that works,” says Kyle. “So the other day, when you ran away from everyone—”

“I didn’t want to choose,” Kenny argued.

“I know, and it’s fine,” Kyle assured. “Anyway, we started talking about the other diaries and… well, you know who.”

He leaves out the full blown argument with unsupported accusations part. Kenny didn’t need to know about that, but knowing his connections to everyone else, he probably already knew. Still, Kyle didn’t want to bring up that moment of weakness again.

Sighing, he continues. “So it turns out he was killed by Craig because he broke into Tweek’s house to try and kill them. Craig said he was trying to protect me, but I mean…”

Sighing again, Kyle leans back and turns his head away from the group. He props his elbow on the armrest and rests his head on it.

Stan continues in his place. “It’s hard to trust anyone in this game, alright? We know Heidi Turner has been fucking with Tweek pretty much this entire game, but is there a reason for it? He said it’s because they killed the first guy, but is there more to it? If me and Kyle fought that guy instead, would she be making us fight all the time? There are so many questions, dude. Holy shit. I’ve never panicked this much in my life.”

He leaned on the armrest like Kyle, leading Kenny to pat them both on the shoulder. They haven’t been through as much as Tweek and Craig, but he could see why Stan and Kyle would be so overwhelmed.

Still, he didn’t know how to ease their worries. Craig being the one to kill Ike just brought a new issue to the table, that being the fact that both boyfriends are fiercely protective of each other. The obvious answer was to tell the boys not to hurt either of them, but would that help the couple’s case or hurt it?

His mind just flickered back to the bodies. He managed to give the bone shards to the forensics lab under the guise of a practice test for learning how to analyze and interpret data. They bought the excuse when he flashed his badge, but he figures that they would’ve done so anyway without it.

That aside, he was told the process would take a few days. What he was going to do with the results was unknown to him, but he was anxious to find out. He didn’t want to believe that Tweek was a bad person. The poor kid goes through enough with Heidi constantly tormenting him, and unfairly accusing him of murder wasn’t going to ease his worries.

Kyle and Stan can’t know about this, however. Not until everything is sorted out. Lucky for him, Kyle was too depressed to probe farther, and Stan was too lost in his sea of questions.

“If you don’t make an enemy out of them, they won’t make an enemy out of you,” Kenny claimed.

In his defense, this wasn’t considered lying. He didn’t say whether or not he trusted them, but from what he had noticed from their attack patterns, they never actively sought out a user for the purpose of defeating them. Even in Butters’ case, he learned that Wendy had planned to arrest him and just take his diary, and Tweek and Craig were just assisting her.

“About that…” Kyle nervously brings up. “We may have… fucked up.”

“Wait, what are you talking about?” Stan questioned.

“Okay, _I_ may have fucked up.” Kyle takes a breath before beginning his explanation. “Our diaries already listed Tweek talking about Turner’s puzzle. I… wasn’t supposed to make a big deal out of it, but I wanted to see how they’d react.”

“But they reacted, so doesn’t that mean they’re definitely hiding something big?” Stan wondered. “I mean, if I heard someone warn someone else about me, I wouldn’t be so freaked out about it unless there was a good reason to suspect me. I would just roll my eyes, you know? Especially since I know it’s just a trick to bait me.”

“That’s a good point,” Kenny notes. He figures it’s because Heidi must know something that Tweek doesn’t, and that must scare him.

“They had to pick up on the diary static, though,” Kyle points out. “They know we—”

“You,” Stan corrects.

Kyle rolled his eyes. “... _I_ tried to set them up. We lost their trust from there, and if they remember what was on the table, they’ll come after us!”

“What was on the table?” Kenny asks.

The boys turn to him in a flash with wide eyes and lips pressed together. This was a pretty big secret, and it involved a certain someone that Kenny knew and was friends with.

To their surprise, Kenny sighed and held his hands up. “You know what? I actually don’t want to be held responsible for another secret. I don’t want to know.”

“Probably for the best,” said Stan. He gave Kenny a pat on the shoulder before standing.

Kyle follows suit by standing as well. “We should go, then. Good talk, man.”

As Stan’s hand reached the doorknob, the two jolted when Kenny asked them to wait.

“I still care about you guys, you know,” he assured. “But I care about them too. You’re all my friends, so just… try not to get yourselves killed over something dumb.”

The boys collectively sighed as they walked towards one another for a group hug.

“We won’t die,” Stan claimed.

“You better not,” Kenny warned. “You guys are shit friends, but you’re my shit friends.”

* * *

**11/22/2018 05:23 PM [Stark’s Pond, North Side]**

Since Shelly recently returned from college after many months, Stan was called home to join his mother in talking about their father’s disappearance. Meanwhile, Kyle was left alone to dwell on the events of the past few days.

It was common for people to visit Stark’s Pond to contemplate, and Kyle was no exception. There was a particular bench that overlooked the pond that overlooked the water that he and everyone else liked to sit on, and he was hoping it was available. When he found the bench he was looking for, Kyle saw that it was occupied by a girl in a white dress with her face hidden behind the legs pulled up to her chest. With a closer look, he saw pale skin and ash brown hair. He hoped it wasn’t who he thought it was, but the girl’s sniffling had him approaching curiously, yet cautiously.

The girl turned around to give Kyle a dead stare with swollen honeydew eyes, then rested her cheek on her kneecaps so that she faced away from him. It was clear he was dealing with Heidi, but Kyle didn’t know how to react to her current state.

“What the hell do _you_ have to cry about?” he spat, folding his arms. His tone was harsh, though his expression switched from disgust to confusion from his confliction. She didn’t return his venom with snark or a taunting giggle, so he let down his guard slightly and walked closer.

“Must be nice to have free will,” she mumbled, keeping her gaze away. Her eyes fluttered closed as a sigh escaped her lips.

Kyle knew it was dangerous. She could kill him, brainwash him, or kidnap him, yet here he was, taking a seat on the bench. He sat as far away as possible, but the risks were still present. He’s already berating himself inside for making such a terrible decision, but his curiosity is getting the best of him, like always.

_Free will? Is she not acting out of free will?_

He knows nothing of the god. Unlike Wendy, they’ve never spoken. The very sight of that man fills him with a completely warranted rage that would be detrimental to his life if he ever acted on it. He knows of Heidi’s crimes, but when he first saw her at the cathedral, she seemed more like a puppet than a lover.

“What are you talking about?”

“If the Fourth… no, if Wendy Testaburger could see it, then I’m sure everyone can too. Then again, you’ve never met Eric.”

Putting a name to the face somehow gave the guy more humanity, but his cruel and destructive nature prevented him from gaining any of Kyle’s sympathy whatsoever. Heidi’s current words, though vague, painted him as some terrible person that was probably watching her as she spoke, which was likely why she was speaking so vaguely to begin with.

Kyle hoped his strange attraction to adventure (and consequently, danger,) wouldn’t fuck him over, but he knows from experience that he'll always find himself in some kind of terrible situation. His mind screamed “caution”, but his body didn’t seem to react properly.

“Is he forcing you to do all these terrible things?”

All of Heidi’s past crimes seemed to wash away at this moment. As soon as she faced him with glistening tears, all Kyle could see was a victim. A damsel in distress that needed him to save her from a supernatural entity that could cease his existence with the snap of his fingers.

Emotion replaced logic the second he grabbed her hand. “Is there something I can do? Anything to get you away from him?”

The warning sirens were blaring, but the gleam of the hero medals distracted him. The tears could be fake, so why was he looking past them?

“Nothing,” she replied softly. “I just… need someone to listen to me for a while, like… a friend.”

Suddenly, things started to make sense. It was probably just her and Eric in the Cathedral, wasn’t it? She didn’t have anyone else to talk to, much less lean on. If she really was being abused by Eric, then there was no one to save her.

“I’ll listen to you,” Kyle offered, giving her a gentle smile that he believed would ease her worries. He wasn’t suddenly attracted to her, nor was he trying to get her to fall for him, but the desire to play the knight in shining armor blurred the lines of common sense. The consequences were no longer visible.

Heidi smiled through her tears. She took back her hand and sat up straight, placing both hands on her thighs as she stared down at them. “I told Craig Tucker that I was the Ninth player. It was Eric’s idea, having me participate in the game.” She faced Kyle, catching him off guard. “I know you haven’t seen me since that day, so this will come as a shock to you. I haven’t used my powers to directly kill a single person.”

Kyle tried to recall the school bombing scene again. He remembers Heidi sending people flying towards the walls and lockers, but when it came to her mines, it was Tweek who set them off. She did play a part in the death of his classmates, so she wasn’t relieved from the blame, but the fault wasn’t entirely hers. Setting up Tweek was still a despicable thing to do, but if Kyle’s theory that she was forced by Eric to do so was true, then he couldn’t stay mad at her.

As for the other instances, he wasn’t around to see them, just as Heidi had said. Stan had told him about her involvement with Wendy, Tweek, and Craig’s fight, but he mentioned nothing about a death dealt directly by her hands. Kenny mentioned her explaining Butters’ multiple personality disorder, but he didn’t say anything about her being anywhere else in the scene. The details of every other instance remained a mystery to him.

“Do you believe me?” she asked, snapping him out of his thoughts.

“Huh? Oh, yeah, I believe you,” Kyle answered. “So Eric… Is he making you cause trouble to keep the game going or something? That’s what I figured from listening to Tweek and Craig.”

Heidi smiled sadly and returned her gaze to her hands. “I don’t want him to hate me, that’s all,” she replied. “He’s a bit impatient, so I don’t want him to become angry if the game moves too slowly.”

“Will he hurt you?”

Heidi slapped her hands over Kyle’s mouth with wide eyes. “Sorry!” she whispered after realizing how hard she hit him. “I’m so sorry, I… It was wrong of me to bring this up, so please…” She brought her hands to her chest and clasped them together as she looked back down.

“No, it’s okay. I understand,” Kyle claimed, leaning towards her. “He’s watching us, isn’t he? I don’t want to get you in trouble or anything.”

After glancing at the sky for a split second, Heidi sighed and sat up straight again. “I don’t want to go back to him just yet,” she mumbled. “Why don’t we talk for a while? I’m sure there are things you want to ask me.”

The first thing to flash through Kyle’s mind was Ike. He was listening in when the others were talking about Ike breaking into Tweek’s house, but the only thing that he never heard the answer to was why Ike put himself in danger by not leaving the house when Craig was hunting him down.

“You want to talk about your brother, don’t you?” Heidi guessed. “You don’t know if you can believe what Tweek and Craig were saying, so you want an outsider’s opinion. Is that right?”

“Can I believe what you say?” Kyle wondered, some of his suspicions still remaining. “I mean, I want to trust you, but—”

“You’re keeping a secret for me, aren’t you?” Heidi whispered, leaning close and piquing Kyle’s curiosity. “Wendy Testaburger tried to get me to end the game by trying to tell Eric that I suspected him of not loving me. It’s ridiculous that she would think I had any control over him! You won’t do the same, will you? I’ll tell you what really happened with your brother, so please keep this secret for me!”

Kyle didn’t know why his heart skipped a beat when Heidi pleaded as she grabbed his hand. It seemed like she was telling the truth, and he did have the upper hand in this situation, so he felt that it was okay to trust her.

His answer was a nod, so Heidi began her explanation. “The Fifth, Ike, trapped Tweek in his house with locks. Electronic ones, I believe. The kind that needed a special key that he created for this specific purpose. He formulated a plan to lead Craig out of the house to defeat Tweek first, then once Tweek went into hiding because of the cyanide gas, Craig returned. Ike also went into hiding, but when he left his hiding place, he ran into Craig, who chased him down.”

“Yeah, that’s the part I didn’t understand!” Kyle interrupted. “I heard about the rest, but Clyde mentioned something about ghosts, and that didn’t make any sense. He suggested that Tweek’s house was haunted and that ghosts made Ike expose himself to Craig. Do ghosts actually exist or something?”

Heidi hummed thoughtfully, placing a finger to her lips. “Ghosts?” she repeated. “Um… I don’t know much about them, to be honest. Eric has me take over his duties every now and then, but I’ve never dealt with ghosts. Some of the humans I’ve come across claim that they hear them, however, none have been actually spotted, as far as I’m aware.”

This wasn’t helpful to Kyle at all, but he wasn’t sure of how to word the question to get the answers he was looking for. There was the option of asking Eric, the all-knowing ruler of time and space, but speaking to Heidi like this made him feel like he was betraying him, despite not knowing or even liking Eric. He abandoned the thought for a more important matter he had almost forgotten about. “May I ask you another question?”

Heidi nodded, and Kyle was relieved that she didn’t answer with, “you just did” like a smartass. He couldn’t really say whether her now helpful and humble personality was due to him keeping a secret for her or her deciding to reform herself. Either way, if she was willing to help him by answering his questions, that’s all that really mattered at this point.

“So Stan and I talked with Tweek and Craig about forming a truce, and we ended up trying to solve some sort of puzzle that you made. I’m sure the message is ‘make sure to keep an eye out for the first’, and I wanted to know what exactly I should be watching out for.”

“Eric is actually fond of Tweek, so he has me interfere with his participation in the game, whether it’s helping or hurting him,” Heidi answered. “Something had been uncovered recently, and he wants to incorporate it into the game.”

The message was essentially a warning sign slapped on Tweek’s face, and he was reminded of the secret Kenny was keeping for the couple. He wondered if what Heidi was talking about is related to that secret.

“Okay, well there’s some kind of secret that Kenny’s keeping for Craig and Tweek. Does that have anything to do with the thing you said that had just been uncovered? And what exactly was uncovered?”

“Um… I think it wouldn’t be right for me to—”

“Come on, you’ve been helping Tweek and Craig this whole time! Help someone else out for once!”

Heidi blinked in shock. She didn’t expect him to suddenly raise his voice at her, though she knew why he did, so she wasn’t angry about it.

Kyle, on the other hand, realized his mistake and quickly lowered his tone. “Oh god, I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean… I just…” He bit his lip as he tried to find the words to fix this situation. Stan wasn’t beside him to back him up, though Stan wasn’t good at that sort of thing anyway. He just wanted support at this moment. “Maybe, you know… me, Stan, Tweek, and Craig can team up for the time being to continue the game for Eric to watch. He’d like that, wouldn’t he? I just want to know if Tweek and Craig can be trusted to not stab us in the back so early.”

Bringing up Eric made Kyle feel like _he_ was the one using Heidi, but he didn’t have time to feel sorry for her right now, no matter how terrible that made him sound. The couple could be plotting his death right now, and he would’ve just been chatting with Heidi. He couldn’t take that risk.

“Do you want to kill them?” Heidi asked.

“Only if they want to kill me,” Kyle claimed. “Or Stan, of course. Either way, I wouldn’t be able to live with the constant paranoia of them plotting something against us, so I mean it when I say that I need to know if I can trust them.”

Heidi sighed. “Well... I have been helping those two, so it wouldn’t be fair. I’ll warn you though, I didn’t see and hear everything, so you might still have some questions.”

“That’s fine!” said Kyle. “Any information works!”

“Alright, well… They were all in Tweek’s backyard. Tweek, Craig, and Kenny McCormick, I mean. They found something there, and Kenny wants to investigate.”

“A dead body?” Kyle guessed. It was the only thing that he could think of that would be in a backyard and that would involve an investigation. “Is Kenny trying to investigate something like _that?_ I mean, I can’t think of anything else that would be buried that would have to be kept a secret…”

Heidi was lost in the midst of Kyle’s babbling, but when he stopped, she tilted her head curiously.

“One of them killed someone, and Kenny is trying to find out who,” Kyle whispered, his wide eyes facing forward. “Whoever died was probably hanging around the house and scared Ike into leaving. Maybe… Kenny might be in danger if he continues to snoop around...”

The only way Heidi could respond to Kyle coming up with a conclusion so quickly was by blinking in surprise. She listened to him back up his conclusion for a while longer before speaking up again.

“May I ask you a question next?”

Kyle paused his train of thought. He realized that he might’ve been being rude for not including Heidi in the conversation as he talked her ear off with theories. “Yeah, go ahead.”

“I have no right to say this, considering what I’ve done during this game, but I truly regret my actions,” Heidi confessed in a soft voice. “I never wanted to be a part of this game. I never wanted this game to even happen, but he… he wanted…”

Calmly, Kyle stopped her by placing a hand on her shoulder. “It’s not your fault,” he assured in an equally soft tone. “He’ll probably hurt you if you don’t do as he says, right? It’s okay. I understand.”

Heidi nodded solemnly, then continued. “I want him to love me, but I don’t think I really understand love anymore. I watch Craig and Tweek’s interactions because they love each other so much. I just want that kind of love between Eric and I. Is that selfish?”

“Not at all!” Kyle claimed.

Smiling, Heidi straightened her back against the bench. “I’ve been watching you too,” she said. “The love you have for your best friend—”

“Okay, whoa!” Kyle interrupted. “I don’t know what you’re insinuating, but I love Stan as a friend. Best friend, not a boyfriend!”

Kyle’s cheeks reddened as he spoke, which Heidi answered to with a giggle. “Love for friends is still a form of love. Even family love, which is what you have for Ike. There’s no one else at the Cathedral aside from Eric and me, so I couldn’t experience either of those things.”

It was just as Kyle expected, which made him feel sorry for Heidi. He continued to pat her shoulder.

“Love can be so powerful,” Heidi continued. “It makes people do things they’re not proud of. Is that why you killed the Tenth? For your brother?”

Kyle quickly scanned for anyone walking or sitting nearby, but the area was empty, so he sighed in relief. “It was wrong of me to do so without evidence, but I was just so angry about what happened that I targeted the first user I could find. I wasn’t thinking, and I feel horrible, but...”

He knew he had no excuse for his actions, but it’s too late to take it back now. Even though he felt immense regret, he couldn’t bring himself to come clean to Clyde, who suffered unfairly because of his unwarranted rage.

* * *

**11/22/2018 05:30 PM [Stark’s Pond, West Side]**

Despite Craig’s warnings to stay by his side, Tweek had already wandered off on his own, claiming that he wanted to go on a walk by himself. His suspicions of Stan and Kyle were too high to ignore, especially now that he had a lead on Clyde’s father’s killer. If those two really did kill him, then they couldn’t be trusted, and they have to be taken down. That was Tweek’s reasoning, anyway. To keep himself from upsetting Craig any further, he promised himself to return to Craig’s side immediately after the investigation and not confront the boys.

But he was at Stark’s Pond for another reason. When the woods came into view during his search for either of the Super Best Friends, he suddenly remembered the carving he and Craig made on one of the trees. He halted the investigation for a moment for the sake of nostalgia. It had only been a few minutes, but he was already missing Craig.

The tree and the carving were still there, and it warmed his heart to run his fingers on the dented bark. Though his time as a part of Stan, Kyle, and Kenny’s group was brief, he really didn’t miss the insane adventures they always found themselves in. He liked the simpler moments he spent with Craig doing cheesy activities like baking together and carving their initials onto things. Now he’s just trying to figure out what the hell is going on around him without either him or Craig dying in the process.

He took a picture of the carving, but he heard someone speak loudly nearby.

“Come on, you’ve been helping Tweek and Craig this whole time! Help someone else out for once!”

That was Kyle’s voice. He tried to walk towards the voice as quiet as possible, avoiding as many crunchy dead leaves and snow as possible. From the bush he crouched behind, Heidi and Kyle came into view, and what he heard earlier made sense. They were talking about the failed truce, but Tweek wanted to know why he was discussing it with Heidi of all people.

“Do you want to kill them?” he heard Heidi ask.

At that point, Tweek whipped out his phone and fumbled with the video camera. He believed this could be important information that he’ll need physical evidence of.

“Alright, well… They were all in Tweek’s backyard. Tweek, Craig, and Kenny McCormick, I mean. They found something there, and Kenny wants to investigate.”

He knew he should stop recording for that bit, but if there was a chance that Heidi would explain something he had been ripping his hair out for weeks for to Kyle, then he was going to need this recorded explanation in case he jumbled up the facts in his head.

Kyle’s mumbling was difficult to hear, so he held his breath with hopes of being able to understand something. He could at least determine that the subject of his mumbling was of what the bodies in his backyard meant, but then he saw Kyle’s eyes widen, which indicated a revelation. Again, Kyle’s voice was too quiet for him to hear, and he couldn’t hold his breath any longer. He held his phone away from him as he slowly exhaled as quietly as possible.

Still nothing. He cursed at not being able to catch anything important, but as long as Kyle was suspiciously speaking with Heidi, Tweek was going to keep recording.

“I have no right to say this, considering what I’ve done during this game, but I truly regret my actions,” Heidi confessed in a soft voice.

 _Sure you do._ Tweek rolled his eyes at the thought.

“I never wanted to be a part of this game. I never wanted this game to even happen, but he… he wanted…”

“It’s not your fault. He’ll probably hurt you if you don’t do as he says, right? It’s okay. I understand.”

Tweek raised an eyebrow. He assumed the only person who could possibly hurt Heidi was Eric, whose name he barely remembered from his “interrogation” from Wendy. He knows there must have been a lot he had missed since he wasn’t present for the entire conversation, so the lack of context was confusing, yet intriguing. He listened to Heidi wish for a relationship like his own, making him question whether she truly is a victim as well.

But then, he caught something that he had been waiting for.

“Love can be so powerful. It makes people do things they’re not proud of. Is that why you killed the Tenth? For your brother?”

“It was wrong of me to do so without evidence, but I was just so angry about what happened that I targeted the first user I could find. I wasn’t thinking, and I feel horrible, but...”

Tweek’s jaw dropped. That really was Clyde’s dad’s diary on the table that day, and as Kyle explained himself, he now had recorded evidence. As promised, he tried to silently crawl away without addressing the issue with Kyle, but his escape plan instantly failed when he felt a small rock hit the side of his head. His distressed grunt alerted Kyle to his location.

“Hey!” Kyle shouted, pointing at Tweek. “Are you spying on me?!”

Before Tweek could defend himself by pointing out that he was the one talking to Heidi, Stan jumped out from an adjacent set of bushes to tackle Tweek to the ground, surprising everyone.

“Get off of me!” Tweek cried, struggling under Stan’s weight while the front of his body was pressed against the dirt and snow.

“Stan, what are you doing here?” Kyle asked as he approached Stan.

Stan responded by flashing his diary, which showed entries of Kyle talking with Heidi. “I had to keep an eye on you, man. I figured you wanted to get information out of her, but I can’t let her hurt you. Also, I saw Tweek in the bushes just when he was about to leave, so I caught him.”

Heidi suppressed a giggle as she watched the scene. She remained in place, knowing that Kyle would quickly dismiss everything she had said if she were to leave now.

“Let go of me right now, or I’ll send this video to Clyde!” Tweek claimed. He pushed the hand holding his phone under his stomach with a firm grip, and though he felt discomfort from his fist pressing up against him, he would never allow anyone to take his diary away.

Stan and Kyle look to each other, unsure of how to deal with Tweek. They decide on having Stan continue to pin him down while Kyle tries to grab the phone.

Tweek struggles as his arm was being pulled out from underneath him. Once exposed, he clutched the phone as tightly as possible, even with Kyle trying to pry his fingers off of it.

“You brought this upon yourself, Tweek!” Kyle claimed as he pulled the phone out of Tweek’s hand. “You can’t do this to us when you’re the one deceiving Kenny!”

Because he didn’t understand Kyle when he discussed the bodies with Heidi, Tweek didn’t know what Kyle was accusing him of. “What the hell are you talking about?!”

Kyle grabbed Tweek’s thumb to unlock the phone, but he jumped back when several small rocks were hurled at his face. He used his arms to block off the next barrage of rocks while leaving a small opening to see who was attacking him. He expected Craig, but instead, he saw Clyde charging towards him with his ammo cradled in his arms.

Behind Clyde was Craig, who ran towards Stan to push him off of Tweek. When Stan stood back up, Craig held out his knife as he helped Tweek to his feet, causing the defenseless Stan to step back with his hands up.

Meanwhile, Clyde tackled Kyle down, and Jimmy swiped the phone out of his hand. The three took Tweek and ran in the direction they came from, leaving Kyle and Stan to run away as well.

The boys reached Token’s car, which they all hurried inside, just like when they escaped the dogs. Though they had enough people to fight off Stan and Kyle, Heidi’s presence scared them off. If she was helping them now, then they weren’t going to stand there unprepared.

“How did you know I was in trouble?” Tweek asked, turning to Craig. “Were you looking for me?”

Token handed his phone to Clyde, who unlocked it and handed it to Tweek.

 **05:42 PM [Stark’s Pond, North Side]** **  
** Tweek is being attacked by Stan and Kyle.

“Huh? What?”

Tweek scrolled down to see entries about his rescue, their escape, and how they were heading back to Token’s house. “Wait… is this a future diary? Have you been hiding this from us?”

Craig took the phone from him and swiped up. “No, see? There’s no diary app here.” He exited the app and showed the icon on the home page, right beside the notes app. “It’s still the app he downloaded the other day, but now it tells the future.”

“He’s right,” Token confirmed. “Jimmy, Clyde, and I were trying to do a race to see who could reach 100 entries first. Mine was the easiest since I just kept writing about them writing about their own things.”

“I wrote about myself f-flipping a coin,” said Jimmy. “Every time I cuh… I cuh-caught it, I wrote it down.”

“Clyde kept coming up with new pick up lines and used them on us,” said Craig. “He ran out after, like, ten.”

“Get to the point!” Tweek exclaimed, clapping his hands for emphasis.

“Token’s diary turned… it turned into a future diary,” Jimmy explained as he pointed to the diary app. “100 entries, and he gets this meh… this meh...message.” He opened the app back up on Token’s phone and scrolled up to the message.

“Congratulations,” Tweek read aloud. “You’ve reached the required amount of entries for a free trial of the future diary. This will expire in one day. Enjoy! ...huh?”

“My reaction exactly,” said Token. “First it said you were spying on them, and then it said they attacked you. The guys were already at my place, but I had to pick up Craig from his. We got here as fast as we could.”

Tweek stared down at the diary, eyebrows furrowed. “I’m sure they’re all working together. Stan, Kyle, and Heidi. I don’t know who’s behind this...” Tweek holds up Token’s diary. “...but I’m sure they know more about it than us.”

“Sheesh. They could at least have the decency to leave you guys alone until the other users are killed off,” said Clyde. “Think Kyle’s still pissed about his brother?”

“You were spying on them, w-weren’t you?” Jimmy asked, looking back at the direction of the pond. “Did you find… did you f-find… find out anything?”

Just as Tweek was about to pull out the video, he stopped himself when he remembered Heidi talking about the backyard incident. Not that he ever planned to tell the guys about that, but there was just not enough information to prove his innocence. He avoided the possible conflict by plugging in Craig’s earbuds and moving the video scrubber to the part he could actually let the guys listen to.

“The rest is just them chatting about whatever, but this part is something you guys would want to hear.”

When he unplugged the earbuds, he held the phone in the middle of the group for everyone to hear. The guys, minus Token, leaned in, focusing more on the audio since the video wasn’t very clear.

“Love can be so powerful. It makes people do things they’re not proud of. Is that why you killed the Tenth? For your brother?”

“It was wrong of me to do so without evidence, but I was just so angry about what happened that I targeted the first user I could find. I wasn’t thinking, and I feel horrible, but...”

The recording stopped when Tweek grunted as he was hit by Stan’s rock. “The Tenth is Clyde’s dad if we didn’t mention that before. I don’t know what they have against us…” He knew this was a lie, but he continued nevertheless. “...but if we need a reason to fight back, this is it.”

Everyone glanced at Clyde, waiting for him to either cry or get angry, two things he did when presented with unfavorable news. Then they remembered his reaction to both of his parents’ deaths: silence and emptiness, which is what they were seeing now.

Clyde’s vacant eyes stared at his lap, his mind swarming with thoughts on the recording. To seek revenge or take the high road? Both Stan’s dad and Kyle’s brother were killed by Tweek and Craig, so those two had no reason to go after his dad. Kyle said so himself. He targeted the first user he could find and killed them without evidence.

“What do you say, dude?” Craig asked. He leaned forward and pat Clyde’s shoulder. “How should we deal with this?”

“Give the guy some space, man,” Token sighed.

“But what if they attack us because of Tweek’s eavesdropping? They can be plotting—”

“Check the diary, Craig!” said Tweek. “It’ll tell you if—”

“Breaking their phones isn’t the same as killing them, right?” Clyde spoke up, his eyes still downcast. “You’ll be able to get rid of the threat without evidence, just like them.”

Silence filled the car again. Craig notes that the diary didn’t react either, meaning that this response from Clyde was expected.

“Well…” Craig begins, breaking the silence. “Looks like we’re gonna have to fight.”

Again, no reaction. The diary probably listed the results of the fight, but Craig kept his phone locked, opting to not get his hopes up. Stan and Kyle seemed much more competent as diary users than the others, and they have each other, which practically puts them at his and Tweek’s level. If they could use the diary’s tendency to alter with ease to their advantage, then he couldn’t rely on a win or lose entry.

* * *

**11/22/2018 05:10 PM [Cathedral of Causality]**

“I wonder if Eighth knows what their creation is causing,” Heidi giggled as she watched Craig and the others drive away on the screen. “Do you think they want to get rid of the competition as well?”

“Knowing them, it doesn’t seem like this is a one-person operation,” Eric notes. “Look on Eighth’s screen. They don’t seem to even use their diary often.”

“Ah, silly me. I’ve noticed their disinterest in the game before, so I haven’t been paying mind to them. Their diary is very powerful, so it’s a shame that they choose not to use it.”

“They call it the ‘devil’s work’, which is hilarious, considering that they’ve already met the true god of this universe,” Eric chuckles, pressing down on his crown. “It seems that they have others making use of the diary’s capabilities in their place, so it’s possible that it won’t go to waste.”

Heidi hums in agreement then floats over to sit on Eric’s lap. She wraps her arms around his neck and sighs dreamily, her head nuzzled into his neck.

“Your conversation with the Seventh was interesting to watch,” says Eric, his eyes narrowed. “Either you’re a talented actress, or there’s something that you want to share with me.”

Unfazed, Heidi returns his suspicion with a kiss on his cheek. “No need to worry, love. I’ve been watching that Kyle Broflovski. He has a self-proclaimed heart for justice, so a fake abuse story was just the thing to obtain his trust. You’ve never hurt me without reason, after all.”

“I haven’t had the need to discipline you. You’ve been nothing short of wonderful and obedient since the game began. You used to be so meek, always spouting nonsense about peace. I worried that you would’ve tried to turn this world into some sort of utopia while I was away.”

“No darling, you were right all along. World peace is nonsensical and unattainable without brainwashing the public. If we wanted a world of robots, we would have such a monotonous world, don’t you think?”

Eric chuckled, all of his suspicion fading in an instant. There was no way that Heidi could harbor any sort of disdain for him when any sort of punishment she faced was caused by her own misdeeds.

He caresses her hair, overlooking the changes she had made to her appearance. In place of her flower crown was a small bun tied with half of her hair around the bun doughnut from Wendy’s apartment. Heidi appreciated the refreshing change she made, even if Eric didn’t care for it. She was happy to make a change that wasn’t for him.

“If I were human like Kyle Broflovski, do you think he would hurt me because of your act?” Eric wondered. His eyes wandered from Tweek’s screen to Kyle’s, who was now plotting his battle with the couple. “From watching the two of you, he seems the type that could easily defy me if not for my power. It seems like such a waste to kill him, though.”

“You’re speaking favorably of Kyle Broflovski now. Are you going to help him win?”

“I’m interested in him, but I’m more interested in First. That boy has such a complex story, and it drives me insane that you won’t divulge any of his secrets.”

“I promise you that seeing this play out with your own eyes will be worth the wait. It won’t be much longer, my love.”

Eric hums as he leans back in his chair. “Darling, take over. I’m feeling rather tired right now, so keep this world under control for me.”

Once Heidi leaves his side, he closes his eyes while his hemispherical platform grows to encase him. Heidi continues watching over the humans, occasionally focusing on her favorite users.

“Don’t die so soon, my dear,” she whispers in front of the screens. “I won’t be able to visit the humans if you leave me here alone.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’ve come to understand that the way the diaries work in terms of how often the entries change is very complicated and can contradict itself way too easily (ex. There’s no way Yuuki’s diary would be able to predict all of Yuno’s attacks and block them all without Yuno catching on and trying a new approach). It’s one of those shows where you just have to let things happen and enjoy. I’m not trying to half-ass this, but if you find any illogical mistakes that I missed, that’s why. There are way too many factors to consider and keep track of, but I’ll still do my best to make this as accurate as I can.
> 
> Thank you for reading!


	16. Don't Hesitate

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m gonna try to upload once a month since I’m pretty busy with school these days, and I’ll make sure to stick to that, so don’t you worry my friends.
> 
> Also I have completely been disregarding the actual calendar in this fic like… these kids have not been going to school because I haven’t been keeping track of weekdays/ends. Last chapter’s confrontation was on Thanksgiving, but there was no family fun there lol whoops. But Christmas will definitely happen so eyyyyyy

**11/22/2018 05:30 PM [Black Residence, Token’s Room]**

Once they returned from the woods, Token grabbed some snacks from the kitchen while the others situated themselves in his bedroom. Jimmy lied back on the computer chair, Clyde leaned forward on the bed, and the couple sat on a single bean bag chair, squishing together tightly so they could both fit. Though he expected the same silence from the car when he entered his room, Token wasn’t fond of the heavy atmosphere. He placed a tube of cheese pringles in the middle of Craig, Tweek, and Jimmy’s circle, then handed a smaller tube of pizza pringles to Clyde as he took a seat beside him.

“That reminds me,” Tweek suddenly spoke up. “Um… I didn’t tell you guys thanks for saving me, so… thanks a lot.”

Tweek knew he was prone to diving into danger headfirst, and he wasn’t oblivious to his friends’ opinions on that, so he was glad that they didn’t leave his reckless ass to die. He wasn’t sure whether Kyle intended to steal his phone to kill him or just delete the video, but he would’ve been considered dead if the phone was left in their hands, and he couldn’t bear the thought of Craig or the others risking their lives to get it back.

“Don’t mention it, man,” Token smiled, dismissing the thanks with a wave of his hand. “You know we’re on your side.”

From what he remembered from the conversation in the car, Token said that he saw the entry, picked up Craig, and immediately drove down to the scene. Tweek pulled his knees to his chest and hid his toothy smile behind them. He was truly lucky to have such loyal allies. It meant that there were more people that he had to protect, but these guys have been supporting him since his depression days, so he’d be a complete jackass to ignore everything they’ve done.

Meanwhile, Craig scrolled through entries pertaining to an upcoming gunfight between both teams at an abandoned Blockbuster. These guys were dead serious, and if they wanted to survive this, they were going to have to get their hands on some guns. Luckily, they still had the ones they kept from the battle with Wendy. Getting more ammo was going to be an issue, however.

“A literal fucking showdown,” Craig stated, clicking his tongue. “They’re really out to kill us.”

Tweek leaned on his shoulder and read the entries as well. The guns were probably their response to Craig bringing his knife earlier.

“At least there’s no dead end,” Tweek pointed out. “Says they’ll run off when things get too dangerous.”

“Don’t bet on it,” Craig warned. “They can see the future, too. They can easily turn things around if we only rely on these entries, so we just have to prepare ourselves for that static alert.”

Though he knew Craig was right, Tweek wanted to be a little more hopeful for once. He glanced back at Clyde for his opinion, but he seemed lost in his thoughts. The other guys appeared troubled over the matter, but they didn’t voice their opposition.

Gripping Craig’s hand, Tweek turned to him again and leaned on his shoulder. “If there is a change, I’m willing to bet that it’ll be in our favor,” he guaranteed. He didn’t want to be the one who constantly needed to be comforted when Craig had his worries as well. That’s what made them the perfect team, he believed.

“We’ll come too,” Clyde said suddenly, but Craig was already denying the idea.

“Don’t be a dumbass. We might be able to keep up with them, but we can’t guarantee your safety. If they’re shady enough to use Heidi Turner against us, they won’t feel remorse for going after you guys too. At least with us, she wants to see us fight, so I doubt there will be any interruptions.”

“I think you may have forgotten about my diary,” Token brought up. “We don’t have to be at the scene, but we can watch your back.”

Tweek cleared his throat and held up his diary, the one that watches Craig’s every move.

“Well what about you? Who’s watching your back?” Token pointed out.

Nodding, Tweek put his phone back down. “I guess you can watch everyone’s back. You can keep an eye on both of us so that I can focus on fighting.”

The static sound alerted everyone, but when they checked their diaries, only a few alterations were made.

Craig sighed at the entries. “Even with this idea, it’s still basically a tie. We’ll just have to come up with something while we’re there.”

The group collectively groaned. Craig read over the entries again in search for the one listing where they could stock up on ammo, though for the pistols they already had, there’s not much they could carry.

“Oh, those same-day deliveries from Amazon,” Craig suddenly said, to which everyone answered with a raised eyebrow. “Token, you have that, don’t you?”

“Yeah, why? What did you want to buy?”

“Bullets—”

“Craig,” Token warned. “I’m not having bullets on my order history. Do you know what my parents would say if they saw this?”

“Token, please?” Clyde joined in, to the others’ surprise. “Stan already has an advantage with his uncle running the gun store, so we have to help them! I don’t want Craig to die! ...sorry, and Tweek.”

Tweek wasn’t particularly bothered by the lack of consideration for his life as compared to Craig’s, seeing how Clyde was much closer to Craig and probably still distrusted him a little for putting their lives in danger in the woods. At least he saved him earlier, so he let it slide.

“S-say his uncle is taking… he’s... he’s taking us hunting,” Jimmy suggested.

“They’re not the right kind of bullets, though,” Craig pointed out.

“Well, guess we didn’t know,” Jimmy replied with a wink.

Though it was a believable excuse, Token was still unsure, but the lives of his friends were more important. He groaned for a few seconds before tossing Craig his phone with the Amazon app already open.

“I’m not saying you should kill them, but you guys better make it out of this alive.”

“You’re gonna watching us, aren’t you?” Tweek smiled. “We trust you to keep us alive.”

He joined Craig and pointed out their need for earpieces to communicate with. When they add everything they needed to the cart, they handed back the phone out of courtesy for the person paying for their supplies. After another sigh, Token placed the order.

* * *

**11/23/2018 12:03 AM [Black Residence, Token's Room]**

A house with thick walls may not be the best idea for a protective parent keeping an ear out for possibly screaming children, but it was perfect for three boys to give late-night directions to their diary-wielding friends. Token and Jimmy sat by the computer, the active diary in Token's hand. With the 24-hour notice in mind, he was glad to have this battle sooner than later. It would've been better to have no battle at all, but that wasn't going to happen.

Clyde paced in circles with the knuckle of his pointer finger in between his teeth. Fighting the SBFs in numbers would've worked perfectly, maybe even scare them off, especially since Craig's diary showed no signs of an appearance by Heidi. Sure, she could drop by whenever she wanted, but he wanted to ignore that for the sake of being right. If anything, this battle should involve him since this was his dad that was unfairly killed. Of course, even if his diary was activated, it would be useless in battle. He cursed himself for not picking a better subject matter, but he didn't think he could come up with 100 entries of something useful right off the bat.

His breathing hitched as he watched Token tell the couple that Stan and Kyle were already waiting inside an abandoned Blockbuster. He remembers what an idiotic decision it was how the couple chose to keep their diaries out of sight until they reached their destination, but what does he know? What if another user spotted them and attacked without warning? He didn't want his friends to be in danger, so he couldn’t be making such assumptions without carefully assessing the situation.

He made his way to Token's side to read the entries. Currently, Tweek was fussing with his earpiece to keep it hidden under his hair while Craig smoothed down the folds in his hat to do the same. As the two neared the building, Clyde grabbed the microphone from Token's headset.

"Be careful, you guys!" he whispered loudly, fearing that he might wake Token's parents despite the thick walls. "Have your guns ready!"

"They know, Clyde," Token sighed. "Just calm down, alright?"

Clyde inhaled sharply, then exhaled with a shaky breath. Why they weren't in Token's car parked nearby was beyond him, though the explanation given was "it's suspicious". He rolled his eyes at the thought of unnecessary parking laws preventing them from being nearby his friends.

* * *

**11/23/2018 12:05 AM [Abandoned Blockbuster, Entrance]**

As December approached, so did the heavy winters of snow and near-negative temperatures. The new trench coats worn by the couple, bought with a reluctant Token’s allowance, fit in seamlessly with the weather, so nobody batted an eye when they walked by. Craig’s navy coat had inner pockets deep enough to conceal his pistol entirely. He kept one hand in his pocket to keep it in place while his other hand was holding Tweek’s. His loaded pistol carried 12 bullets, and he had another full magazine in his left pocket. Though he figured he wouldn't have time to reload if needed, he brought a case of 50 bullets in the back pocket of his jeans.

Tweek matched his boyfriend in equipment placement and coat color, though his was in a different style. He too had one hand in his pocket and the other wrapped around Craig’s. The matching colors reminded him of their superhero days, which gave him something to smile about during this moment of highly possible peril.

Just like the Circuit City used for Chaos' hideout, this Blockbuster wasn't connected to any other buildings, making it a good place for vandalism, group hangouts, and diary user gunfights. It was Stan's idea, since he still had a key from when his dad owned the building for a few days. The thought of his dad depressed him slightly, but he needed to remain focused.

When the couple stepped foot inside the building, they were met with Kyle, gun at his side, standing in between a pair of shelves. Without warning, Tweek pointed his gun to his right and shot at the desk. The bullet burst through the thin wooden barrier, but it missed the target, who leaped over the desk and returned to Kyle's side. From that point, the diary static echoed throughout the building, but the boys kept their eyes locked on each other.

"Lucky guess," Stan scoffed at Tweek. "Unless Craig told you that I was going to shoot you."

"Playing dirty from the start, huh?" said Tweek. He and Craig pointed their guns at Stan and Kyle respectively. "With that diary change just now, none of us know who will come out of this alive."

Kyle didn't respond. Instead, he shot at Craig's leg, but he jumped out of the way just in time. He gasped at the fast reaction, then returned to the aggressive stance of pointing his gun back at Craig.

The couple walked closer, guns pointed at their targets.

"If you don't want to die here, just give us your diaries," Craig tried to compromise, though he knew these two well enough to know that they were too stubborn to give up on anything.

"They won't give up. Stan will shoot at Tweek’s elbow next. Watch out for that!" Token warned the both of them.

Another diary static led to the couple swiftly somersaulting away from each other to dodge the next bullet and catch their targets from the side. They began shooting, prompting the boys to run to the shelves for cover.

Kyle cursed as he ran. How those two were able to figure out what to avoid without looking at the new entries pissed him off, though he figures that being very observant played a huge role in it. He didn't peg them as the type to think quickly, but considering how much danger they've been in these past several weeks, he wouldn't be surprised if the two learned to pick up on the smallest details.

He pressed down on the flap of his hat to secure his own earpiece. "Try and get him alone in the staff room," he whispered to Stan.

Their idea to bring guns did them more harm than good when it came to being able to check their diaries, but knives would've been useless if the couple brought guns. It was clear that the couple was wearing earpieces to communicate with each other as well, but everyone was moving too quickly to come up with another game plan. Kyle settled for distracting Craig by throwing several DVD cases at a time when he got too close. His pistol couldn't hold much ammo, so he couldn't waste what he had.

When Kyle ran into the other aisle, Craig shot at the shelf. In the event that he didn’t have time to reload, Craig chose to conserve his bullets and push down the shelf, hoping to either knockout Kyle or trap him temporarily under a sea of DVD cases. The latter was the result, and Kyle was caught in a domino effect of shelves falling onto one another.

“Craig’s fine, Tweek. Keep moving!” Token instructed when Tweek and Stan briefly turned to the falling shelves. “He’ll push the shelf onto you next, so watch out!”

“Shit! Dude, are you okay? Get out of there!” Stan ordered into his not-so concealed earpiece. He didn’t have time to check on Kyle since Tweek wasted no time running and shooting at him. When Stan neared the end of the shelf, he slipped into the other side and pushed it onto Tweek. To his surprise and anger, Tweek was already running back to where he entered from and headed to the aisle Stan ran into so he could shoot straight at him.

“Did you get him?” Kyle asked as he struggled out of the pile of DVDs. He was able to crawl through small space in between the fallen shelves, but the DVDs in his path were slowing him down. He could hear Craig’s footsteps heading for him, and as soon as Craig made it to his side of the aisle, Kyle had no choice but to shoot without spending time to aim properly.

Before the bullet could hit his ankle, Craig jumped out of the way, allowing Kyle to crawl out of the narrow aisle. The two held each other at gunpoint, though the less prepared Kyle was hesitant to begin shooting.

“What will killing me do for you?” Kyle questioned, his eyes on Craig’s face to spot a reaction.

“He’s stalling, Craig,” Token claimed. “You know what to tell him.”

“I would’ve saved you guys for last if it wasn’t for what you did to Clyde,” Craig answered.

In the woods and at Craig’s house during the reveal of Ike’s killer were the most recent times that Kyle had seen Clyde. He recalled seeing Clyde being a part of the fake diaries group, and he was aware of the 100 entries reward.

 _Eighth’s fake diaries_ , Kyle remembered. _That’s how they knew Tweek was in danger yesterday! That’s how they were able to dodge all of our attacks! They have someone watching over them!_

When Kyle stepped closer, Craig fired a warning shot that flew past his right shoulder. It was close enough for the sound wave to ripple past his ear in a near-deafening matter, but not close enough to wound him in any way. Craig, too, didn’t want any more blood on his hands, but he told Clyde and Tweek that this battle had to happen. If he let his guard down now, he could die.

Kyle leaped forward, dodged Craig’s bullet through Stan’s instructions, then shot at Craig’s feet. Craig jumped out of the way just in time, but he fell into Kyle’s trap, who slipped behind him and pulled his leg back. Craig fell flat onto the carpet, and the impact of his wrist colliding with the floor nearly knocked the gun out of his hand.

* * *

**11/23/2018 12:11 AM [Black Residence, Token’s Room]**

“Roll away, Craig, quick!” Token ordered. You can still—”

After hearing his name faintly through the headset, Clyde decided that the following diary change would be the one he reacted to by hovering over Token. Before Token could protest, Clyde took the headset away from him and pressed it against his ears.

“Tell him to watch out for—”

Clyde shushed him with a raised hand and tried to listen to Kyle’s words carefully. Meanwhile, Token fretted over the newest entries involving a wounded ally.

* * *

**11/23/2018 12:11 AM [Abandoned Blockbuster]**

Kyle couldn’t take the gun out of Craig’s hand, but he could push it away far enough so that his finger wasn’t on the trigger. “I’m not gonna die by your hands,” he told Craig, who was underneath him with one hand pinned behind his back. “If Clyde wants revenge, he’ll have to come here and get it himself.”

“Fuck you!” Craig screamed as he continued his struggle. “Don’t you fucking drag Clyde into this. Just for that, you’re dead!”

“I know you’re mad at me Clyde! I had no reason to kill him, but I did anyway! You should be the one to avenge him!”

“Kyle, what the fuck are you doing?!” Stan hissed through the earpiece. He didn’t know of Kyle’s plans, but he could hear his voice from across the room.

Whether this was a way to repent or just a way to stall, not even Kyle knew. He hated how blinded by revenge he was to commit an unjustified crime against an innocent, and while he knew Craig would have no qualms about killing him now, he couldn’t die just yet.

“Just focus on getting his diary,” Kyle tells Stan. He holds his gun by the upper portion of the hand grip and slams it down hard enough to crush Craig’s wrist. As he grunts in pain, Craig releases his grip on the gun, allowing Kyle to grab it and run back to Stan’s side.

* * *

**11/23/2018 12:13 AM [Black Residence, Token’s Room]**

“Dude, at least help them for me!” Token tried to reason as he held his diary in front of Clyde’s face. “Craig’s hurt! You’ve gotta help!”

Clyde removed the headset and handed it back to Token. He sat on the bed and leaned forward, propping himself up with his elbows as he took a deep breath into clasped hands.

“Just k-keep giving instructions,” Jimmy told Token before walking to Clyde’s side. He plopped onto the bed next to him and pat him on the shoulder. “Talk to us, dude.”

“It’s nothing. Just Kyle admitting to being my dad’s killer,” Clyde answered. He leaned on Jimmy’s shoulder, but his eyes were on the door. He briefly glanced at the fully occupied Token, and judging by his tone, the fight seemed to have escalated, mainly on Tweek’s side.

“If Clyde wants revenge, he’ll have to come here and get it himself.”

He didn’t like those words. Not the way it was said, not what it meant, and certainly not who it was directed at. He heeded Craig’s warnings about joining the fight. The only gun he supposes that he could call his own was the one his dad left at the cabin, and he wouldn’t be able to grab it in time. Whether or not it would be considered true justice to let Craig handle the fight was a question that had Clyde figuratively bashing his head on a wall.

“Tweek, you’ve gotta hurry back to the entrance to find Craig! Kyle took his gun, and he’s coming after you with Stan!”

Clyde stood up suddenly, phone in hand. He mumbled, “going to the bathroom” as he left the room, then pulled up an app as he walked.

Jimmy gives him a worried glance, but he ultimately chooses to stay by Token’s side to see how the couple is holding up. Seeing that Craig was trying so hard to keep his wrist still to temporarily stop the pain made him feel ill, and when Token switched tabs to see how Tweek was doing, he felt his heart drop from seeing how Tweek barely dodged Stan’s bullet.

* * *

**11/23/2018 12:15 AM [Black Residence, Outside]**

Clyde closed the door behind him gently and hurried towards the gate where a dull red Sentra was being inspected by the security guard. He tells the guard that he just wanted to grab some clothes from his house, which eases the guard’s suspicions and allows him to enter the car.

“Oh hey, it really is you!” Clyde exclaimed as he fastened his seat-belt. “Your name is common, but I thought the face looked familiar. It’s been a while, David!”

“Yeah, it has!” David answered, though his focus was on the road. “So, are we still going to the convenience store, or did you actually want to go to your house?

“Convenience,” said Clyde. “But damn, dude! For a Lyft driver, you sure got here fast. Literally a minute!”

“I was in the area,” David chuckled, and after a short period of silence, he asked, “so why do you need to go to the store when you’re living with a rich boy?”

Clyde paused for a moment, looked back at the front door of the house, then replied, “I needed comfort food. Tired of the rich people food, you know? Need the nostalgia of eating a gas station hot dog and reading a magazine.”

With an understanding nod, David continued their ride in a comfortable silence as Clyde attempted to keep his fidgeting to a minimum. Having no weapon on him made him uneasy, and he didn’t want to walk into the building just to get shot on the spot. He figured that he could text Craig as soon as he got there to use his gun, but then he remembered Token saying that Kyle ran off with it. If Tweek is the only one armed, he didn’t want to take the team’s only weapon just to possibly get revenge, and all these consequences were making him antsy.

Within two minutes, they neared the store, and Clyde could see the Blockbuster in the distance. He was hesitant to ask David to drive further, but he didn’t want him to hear the gunshots. He decided on just exiting the car, waving goodbye, and as soon as David left, he started running towards the scene. The sound of the gunshots became louder as he neared, then fell silent, and he feared the worst.

 **Clyde** : i’m almost there. are you guys ok ??

He didn’t expect a quick response, but every second that passed without one had his heart beating against his chest.

* * *

**11/23/2018 12:17 AM [Black Residence, Token’s Room]**

Jimmy looked to the door, puzzled. “Is Clyde getting a s… a snack?”

Token switched to Clyde’s tab and stood up immediately. “Clyde went to the fight! We have to get down there!”

“Will we make it? W-would he even come b-b-back with us?”

 **12:19 AM [Abandoned Blockbuster]** **  
** Clyde is given a gun from Kyle. He takes the first shot and misses.

“In two minutes, he’s gonna fight Kyle. We won’t make it in time, and we don’t have weapons! What are we gonna do?!”

“We’ll go down… we’ll go... we’ll go there anyway!” Jimmy claimed. He was already heading out the door while Token ran after him with his headset still attached.

* * *

**11/23/2018 12:15 AM [Abandoned Blockbuster, Outside]**

Once Tweek returned to Craig’s side, they ran out of the store and headed for the back entrance.

“If you’re heading to the back door, it’s locked. Can you pick it?” Token asked.

“Yeah, I’ve got something,” said Craig.

Keeping Craig’s broken wrist in mind, Tweek held onto Craig’s arm and allowed Craig to lead him as he had his gun pointed behind them. As they ran, they could hear the sliding front doors open, so Tweek turned to face forward and focus on running.

Upon reaching the back door, Tweek stationed himself at the edge of the building, ready to face their opponents despite his team’s lack of weaponry. Craig used the same trick as he did when breaking into Tweek’s bathroom during his depressive stage, though this time, he bent the bottom left corner of his student ID.

As Craig worked to unlock the door, Tweek fired a warning shot at the nearing footsteps. He heard Stan curse, but he didn’t want to risk his head being blown off just to see if he actually hit Stan.

“Come on!” Craig whispered, waving Tweek over while holding the door open. Once Tweek was safely hidden inside the building, Craig shut the door behind him and pressed his body against it.

“You can’t do that!” Tweek hissed. “They might shoot through the door! We gotta find something to block it!”

“It’s steel, babe, don’t worry,” Craig assured. “Or whatever this is, it’s gotta be something heavy-duty. They can’t shoot through this.”

Craig was right, but the door leading to the store was wooden. Not only that, it also didn’t have a lock, so it was much easier to break into. Tweek took the responsibility of finding something to shield them. The back room seemed to just be an employee break room, so there were boxes of old VHS tapes and game controllers on the floor, tables, chairs, and a couple of shelves for holding more boxes.

“Think we can move the shelves?” Tweek suggested, but then he looked down at Craig’s swollen wrist. With a shudder, he decided to work on his own.

Tweek’s barricade consisted of turning a table onto its side and pushing it up under the door handle. For added support, he pushed as many boxes as he could in front of it before the boys arrived, then stood aside with his weapon pointed at the door.

“Clyde went to the fight!” They overheard Token say. “We have to get down there!”

“Shit… Clyde’s coming!” Craig warned, and as soon as he did, he felt the vibration of Clyde’s message.

 **Craig** : go back home!! you’ll get killed here!

“What’s going on?!” Tweek asked Token. “Is Clyde really coming here? I thought you guys were with him!”

“I didn’t expect him to escape! I know you guys only have one gun now, but you have to try and get him out of there!”

Tweek turned to his barricade, then at Craig, then at a lone box cutter sitting on a shelf. He grabbed the box cutter, handed Craig his gun, and tried to leave through the back door.

“Whoa, what are you doing?!” Craig questioned, pushing the gun aside. “You can’t fight them with a box cutter!”

“I’m gonna get Clyde out of here. Between the two of us, I’m the one with less broken limbs. Trust me, I’ll be fine!”

“Tweek, you blocked the hell out of that door! My diary can’t keep an eye on you if I can’t see you!”

“Craig, it’s gonna be—”

The two were interrupted by the sound of Clyde’s voice up front.

* * *

**11/23/2018 12:18 AM [Abandoned Blockbuster]**

With Stan watching the back door, Kyle was in front of the break room, so he was there to witness Clyde’s arrival.

“I’m here like you wanted!” Clyde announced upon entering. “And since it’s your fault that my dad died for no reason, you better give me a weapon to fight with! I know you have Craig’s gun, so just… hand it over!”

He didn’t think he’d comply, but Kyle walked towards him, both guns at his side. In front of Clyde, he held Craig’s gun by the slide, which Clyde grabbed. The two of them took a few steps back, Clyde pointing his gun at Kyle as he did.

The fact that Clyde had never touched a gun before hindered him at this moment. Is the safety off? Is it loaded? He even began to wonder if he was holding it correctly, but it’s not like he could ask questions in this situation.

“I won’t play any tricks,” Kyle claimed, his gun still at his side. “I’ll let you make the first shot, but don’t expect me to stand still and take it. After all, I still wanna live.”

He couldn’t understand why Kyle would even try to bargain with him, but he didn’t bother to ask, nor did he try and point out how pointless it was to give him the first shot when Kyle planned to dodge it anyway.

Just like Token’s prediction, Clyde fired the first shot, but immediately after he did, Stan ran through the front door and fired at Clyde’s feet. Clyde stumbled backwards and fell on his ass, but he kept his grip on the gun. When he looked up at Stan, he could see a hint of hesitation in his eyes and shaky arm.

“I get that you want to repent, Kyle, but I can’t let you die on me.”

The two walked towards Clyde, and he could faintly hear Craig and Tweek pushing boxes aside in the back room to get to him. He crawled backwards, unable to draw his weapon, though the boys had their own at their sides.

The sudden diary static alerted the two, and with all weapons down, Kyle took the opportunity to check his diary for once that day.

 **12:21 AM [Abandoned Blockbuster]** **  
** Stan can hear sirens from outside.

“Shit, the police! We gotta leave!” Kyle cried out.

As soon as he did, Tweek burst through the door with his gun pointed at the boys. Clyde navigated his way through fallen shelves to raise his hands in front of Tweek’s gun to stop him. With Clyde distracting Tweek, the boys escaped through the front entrance.

“The police are coming!” Clyde warned, and when he did, he could hear the sirens nearby. “We’ve gotta get out of here, quick!”

He took the couple out through the back door, and immediately upon exiting the building, Token’s car came into view with Jimmy sticking half of his body outside of the window of the passenger seat.

“Get in!” Jimmy instructed with a frantic wave.

The three scrambled inside with no time to sit up straight before Token slammed his foot on the gas pedal for their escape. A minute into their drive, a short fuse went off inside of Token and his anger and frustration came out at once.

“Clyde, why did you come here!?” Token scolded, his grip on the wheel tightening. “Damn it, you could’ve gotten killed!”

“I wanted to get revenge for my dad, and I wasn’t gonna let you stop me!” Clyde argued. He leaned back in his seat, arms folded and facing the window. “I was gonna save Craig and Tweek, too,” he mumbled.

“You tried to face them two against one! What if Kyle decided that he didn’t want to give you the gun after all? You can’t get revenge if you’re dead!”

“I saw Stan hesitate to shoot me. I’m not a user, so maybe he—”

“He was just feeling guilty, but if you shot Kyle, I guarantee that he wouldn’t hesitate to kill you!”

Token’s anger left him blind to the road, so Jimmy jumped to take control of the wheel when the car jerked too far towards a moving truck. The driver honked at his recklessness, forcing Token to take a breath and regain his composure.

“Sorry, I just… Craig and Tweek are already forced into this mess, and I didn’t want you to also…”

“It’s fine,” Clyde assured, reaching over Tweek to pat Token’s shoulder. He returned to his original position of arms folded and face to the window, but he closed his eyes and tried to calm himself down as well.

From behind Token, Craig held his wrist in place. Even the slightest movement was almost unbearable, and his attempt at not drawing attention to it was painful for Tweek to watch. But before Tweek could speak up about it, Craig held his cheek with his left hand.

“Just needs a splint. I’ll be fine. We can find something at Token’s.”

“How bad is it?” Jimmy asked, poking his head in between the seats to see the damage, despite it being too dark in the car to see anything.

Tweek pushed Craig’s sleeve back and shined his phone’s flashlight on the blood pooling underneath Craig’s skin. “Ugh, Craig! That looks disgusting!” he complained, pointing out the shades of purple and red. “It’s gotten worse! We gotta take you to a hospital!”

Craig groaned, but Token already turned into the road to Hell’s Pass. As a way to ease the silence that seemed to haunt this car, Jimmy switched to a channel playing an 80's inspired mellow tune.

* * *

**11/23/2018 12:36 AM [Hell’s Pass Hospital, Front Entrance]**

“Say you dropped a weight on it,” Clyde whispered. “You bumped into a table with a weight on it, and it rolled and fell on your wrist.”

“No, I’ll just say I stepped on him by accident,” said Tweek. “He was lying down on the floor with his arms out—”

“T-pose,” Jimmy grinned, and Clyde couldn’t help but crack a smile when Jimmy held his arms out.

Trying to stay serious, Tweek continued. “Anyway, I wasn’t paying attention, I stepped on his wrist, and I fell forward.”

Once they reached the front desk, they caught the attention of a familiar face in the waiting area.

“Craig?”

Thomas stood from his seat and approached his son, looking him up and down. “What’s wrong? One of you get hurt?” He caught sight of Craig’s hand holding his wrist still and sighed.

“It’s my fault!” Tweek jumped in. “I-I stepped on him by accident!”

“What are you doing here?” Craig asked, though the passive look on his face showed his lack of interest in hearing the answer.

Thomas looked back at his friends, one of which had bandages sloppily wrapped around his head.

“Friend of mine started a bar fight. Didn’t end well.”

Craig rolled his eyes, then turned to the desk attendant to explain the story. Tweek was about to stand by Craig’s side, but Thomas stopped him by placing a hand to his shoulder.

“I want to help. Use this.”

He handed Tweek a card, pointed at the attendant, then returned to his seat. Upon reading the contents of the card, Tweek realized it was health insurance information. While he knew why Craig didn’t like his dad, he couldn’t get himself to hate the person who took him in, so he walked back to Craig’s side with the card in his pocket.

“Babe, can you help me fill this out? I can’t… you know,” Craig says, gesturing towards the information sheet with his head while he continues to hold his wrist steady.

Tweek grabs the clipboard, then he and Craig take their seats as far away as possible from Thomas. Tweek glanced at him briefly, but then the gang entered his field of vision.

“N-no offense, fellas, but I don’t wanna be in a room fuh...full of sick people,” Jimmy pointed out. Clyde and Token nodded, showing their discomfort from standing too close to a guy who didn’t cover his coughs.

“You guys gonna be alright?” Token asked.

“We’ll be fine,” said Tweek.

As the boys waved goodbye, Craig lied back in his seat with his eyes closed, waiting for Tweek to fill out the forms. There was nothing on that sheet that Tweek didn’t know the answer to, though there were a few sections that made him stop to think, such as parent’s name and emergency contact. He figured that he’d say Laura for both, but he wasn’t sure if Craig wanted her to know that he was in the hospital. In the end, he wrote her name down anyway.

For the parties involved section, he knew he should stick to his own story and write himself as the person who injured Craig, but he couldn’t stop glaring at the page when Kyle came to mind. Sure, it’s better than shooting Craig on the spot, but he was still pissed off about it. What annoyed him more was how he couldn’t figure out what the hell was going on in Kyle’s mind during the entirety of the fight. Did he really just want to break their phones without physically hurting them? Will they come back for another fight? Tweek didn’t know, but this wasn’t the time to be stressing out over it.

Then, he ran into the insurance portion. He didn’t know Laura’s information off of the top of his head, so he had no choice but to use Thomas’s card. With Craig’s attention lost in whatever was going on inside his head, Tweek pulled out the card and copied down the information. He glanced at Thomas again, who gave him a small smile before standing to leave. Tweek wondered how he was going to give the card back, but he was distracted by Craig suddenly leaning on him. Though Craig’s eyes were still closed, Tweek quickly hid the card back in his pocket and filled out the rest of the forms.

“Craig,” he said gently while patting his cheek. “I need to turn this in.”

Craig moved back to his seat, but he remained silent. Tweek noticed he was trying to rest, so he kissed him on the forehead and turned in the forms. The rest of the time was spent waiting for Craig’s name to be called.

* * *

**11/23/2018 01:40 AM [Hell’s Pass Hospital, Waiting Room]**

The injury wasn’t severe enough for surgery, so Craig walked out with a splint wrapped securely around his wrist. He and Tweek walked to the front desk, Craig groaning at the thought of handing his mom a hospital bill. Selling the Tweak’s car only gained them enough money to cover Tweek’s therapy sessions and his hospital bills from the fight with Ike. The only person in the group with any sort of general knowledge of medical procedures was Jimmy, but he wouldn’t know how to deal with a bullet wound or perform a surgery, so they couldn’t afford to keep getting hurt like this.

“Oh, there’s no bill for you,” the woman at the desk told them. “It’s already being taken care of.”

Craig searched the room, expecting his mother to be sitting there with an annoyed look on her face, but she wasn’t. He also wondered if Token was feeling extra generous for some reason, but Token wasn’t around either. He didn’t recognize anyone in the room, so he turned to Tweek, who just shrugged.

“Uh… Paid by who?” Craig asked.

“Your father, Thomas Tucker. That is your father, isn’t it?”

Again, he searched the room for his dad, but no luck. He didn’t know how else to react to the news, so he nodded at the woman and walked through the sliding doors.

“I don’t think Token stuck around, so do you just wanna walk back?” Tweek asked. “Will you be okay?”

“It’s a wrist fracture, not a broken leg,” Craig explained with a soft chuckle. “Then again…”

Walking alone could lead to an ambush, so Craig was hesitant to leave. He was tempted to call a Lyft, but then he caught sight of his parents talking in the parking lot. Hoping to save some cash by having Laura take them home, he approached the two. He notes that they weren’t arguing this time.

“No, really, it’s no problem,” Thomas claimed. “I mean, he’s still technically my son, so I’m happy to help.”

Laura looked hesitant, but she just nodded and waved goodbye with a soft, “thank you”.

The boys walked over once Thomas left and stood awkwardly in front of Laura, hoping she wouldn’t ask for the story. She smiled calmly at them and waved for them to get in the car.

“Sorry, Mrs. Tucker,” Tweek apologized for both “breaking” Craig’s wrist and making her drive all the way here in the middle of the night.

“You guys just can’t stay out of trouble, can you?” she sighed. “But I mean, it’s better for it to have been Tweek than some other guy, right?"

That was far from truth, but the boys hummed in agreement anyway and sat in the back seat without another word. Craig eyed his mother for a moment, who was focused on driving them home. She wasn’t too fond of driving too late at night, so he wondered if either the staff or Thomas called her over. He figures it might’ve been the staff, but from their lack of arguing earlier, Thomas could’ve told her that he took care of the bill already, and that’s why she was thanking him.

“That idiot,” the two heard Laura grumble. “Doesn’t have any money, so why did he do that?”

She noticed the boys staring at her from the rear view mirror, so she apologized and turned up the volume of some country love song about a man missing his love. The boys saw the irony in that action, but chose to ignore it in typical Tucker fashion. Adult business was none of their business, regardless of the fact that the two of them are pretty much adults already.

* * *

**11/23/2018 11:12 AM [Tucker Residence, Craig’s Room]**

**Clyde:** craig and tweek you guys still alive?

The text had been sent hours before, but right after they arrived home from the hospital. Tweek nudged Craig awake before answering Clyde’s text to the group chat with “yeah”. Craig acknowledged the message as well, but he didn’t answer it. He chose to lie on his back, his bound wrist resting uncomfortably at his side.

Without knocking, Tricia entered the room with Stripe cradled in her arms. He squirmed at the sight of Craig, and while Tricia would usually put him on the floor so he could run to Craig’s bedside, she saw his splint.

“Oh shit, what happened?” she asked, though she figured it was something diary related.

Tweek sat up and waved his hand to gesture for her to close the door, which she did by pushing it with her foot. She then walked to the bed and placed Stripe on the blankets.

“Mom’s at work. Black Friday, you know? So tell me what happened,” she said.

“Stan and Kyle,” Craig huffed, his eyes stuck on the ceiling. “Crushed by the hand grip of a gun, but not hard enough for surgery, so now I have this splint.”

“I mean, that sucks, but you’ve broken your arm before, so you’ll be fine.”

“But Trish…” Tweek tried to explain. “They’re still alive. The police were coming, so we all had to escape.”

Tricia made a silent “o” with her lips, then nodded, her expression growing more concerned. “What’re you gonna do? Break’s almost over, so like… what if you see them at school?”

“We don’t go to school with them,” said Tweek. “We’ll just head straight home, blend into the crowds. Craig’s in no position to fight, and we can’t use guns without attracting the police again.”

“Why the hell did you use guns in the first place—”

“Because we read that they were bringing guns, and we weren’t gonna bring knives to a gunfight,” Craig claimed, his annoyance apparent in his tone.

Tricia hummed understandingly. “So what did you tell Mom? I’m sure she wouldn’t appreciate you guys playing with guns.”

“I accidentally stepped on his wrist while he was lying on the floor,” Tweek explained. “It does sound a bit weird, but Clyde said that a weight rolled off the table and landed on Craig’s wrist, so let’s be real here.”

“I get that you guys are literally trapped in a game from hell, but you know… maybe… don’t make Mom pay for you guys ending up in the hospital all the time? There’s no free healthcare in the States.”

“Oh, she didn’t pay. Actually…” Tweek glanced at Craig for a moment, then turned back to Tricia. “Your dad did.”

“Again?”

Craig sat up and both boys raised an eyebrow at her.

“What do you mean again? We used Tweek’s money last time.”

“No, I mean he paid for the bills at the beginning of the month, too. Water and stuff. I think he got either a promotion or a better job because I dunno where he’s getting this money from.”

Tweek wondered the same thing. He knows that the reason for the divorce was due to Thomas’s awful spending habits on their joint account that always seems to happen during “guys nights”. He remembered how the argument escalated from pointing out each other’s flaws to outright screaming.

_“Maybe you shouldn’t have married me!” “Maybe I shouldn’t have! Maybe we shouldn’t be together!”_

Reminding himself of Craig’s impulsive proposal back when his parents were getting arrested helped lift his spirits. He and Craig will never going to split up, and he’ll make sure of it.

“You know what?” Tricia began. “I think… he’s trying to win back Mom.”

“Maybe if he pays more bills,” Craig shrugged. “That asshole destroyed their savings on who fucking knows what.”

From the corner of his eye, Craig saw Tweek’s discomfort, so he placed a hand on his cheek and stroked it with his thumb.

“I wouldn’t do that to us.”

“I know. I’m not worried,” said Tweek. “Let’s just go eat something, okay?”

The three walked down the stairs, Tweek in front while the others trailed behind. When the couple made their way towards the kitchen, Tricia walked towards the television, but the doorbell rang right before she could sit. She peeked through the peephole to see who it was, then opened the door.

“Dad?” she said, attracting the attention of Craig, who poked his head into the hallway from the kitchen. “What are you doing here?”

“Oh, both of you are home,” he noted. He waved at Craig, but Craig just stood in place. “Well, I found this in my moving boxes, so I figured that your mom would want it back.”

He pulled out a small black box, and when Tricia opened it, there was a pair of garnet stud earrings inside. As someone who would regularly borrow her mother’s jewelry, she didn’t recognize these, and that includes the years prior to the divorce.

But Tricia didn’t say anything. She closed the box and set it on a nearby table.

Tweek joined the group with a spatula in hand, though he hadn’t started cooking yet, so he was free to watch the conversation play out without the chance of something burning.

“Are you cooking something, Tweek?” Thomas asked.

“Oh… not yet,” Tweek replied, looking back at a box of unopened pancake mix on the counter.

“How about we all go out to eat, then? Lunch is on me.”

Craig rolled his eyes. “How? Aren’t you supposed to be broke?”

Thomas was clearly hurt by his son’s words, but Craig had every right to be angry, so he just smiled softly at him.

“It took a long time to get back on my feet, but I’m doing pretty well now, so I thought I could spend some money on my kids today. You don’t have to, of course.”

Tricia and Tweek were alright with it, so they faced Craig and awaited his answer. Mildly annoyed by the stares, he walked past everyone, headed for Thomas’s car, and invited himself inside. Tricia followed, and Tweek did the same once he placed the spatula back in the drawer.

During the drive that was seemingly going nowhere due to the siblings’ inability to choose a restaurant, Tweek continued the long forgotten group chat from earlier that morning, but he chose to make a separate chat for everyone in the group minus Clyde.

 **Tweek:** Is Clyde still with you guys? He didn’t leave on his own again, did he?   
**Jimmy:** I went home already. Token?   
**Token:** Yeah, he’s fine. Still asleep, actually.   
**Token:** I’m keeping an eye on him, so don’t worry.

Just about everything that happened that night was confusing, but Tweek really wanted to know what made Clyde join the fight. Did he really want revenge on Kyle that badly, or did he foresee Craig’s injury and tried to help? The latter made less sense since he arrived unarmed, so he wondered if it was really just an impulse decision driven by Kyle’s baiting. He thinks it was baiting, but again, he has absolutely no clue what Kyle’s intentions were.

 **Tweek:** Don’t let him get hurt, okay? If another fight happens, do NOT let him out of your sight!   
**Token:** Hopefully there won’t be another fight, but I’ll keep an eye on him. Promise.   
**Jimmy:** Tie him to a chair so he won’t escape   
**Craig** : that wouldn’t be the worst idea. keep him from getting killed.

Craig recalled how angry he felt when Kyle spoke of Clyde getting revenge. He had no right to take advantage of Clyde’s recklessness, and if he had to guess, he thinks that Kyle actually did that to stall, just as Token said.

_“What will killing me do for you?”_

He claimed it was because of Kyle’s crime, but in reality, the fear and the guilt were two factors that fought against each other. He feared that Kyle and Stan could kill him or Tweek at any moment, but he hesitated at the thought of having the blood on his hands of someone who only acted irrationally due to the loss of a loved one, who happened to die by Craig’s own hands.

In the end, the only real victim was Clyde. Ike tried to kill him and Tweek. Kyle killed Clyde’s dad out of blind rage. Clyde was the only one who was caught in the loop for no reason, and while Craig could easily get revenge for him, he still felt hesitant. He just didn’t like killing non-strangers. He didn't like how he remembered their faces during their final moments.

But that’s not how a survival game works. They would’ve all had to kill each other anyway, and hesitation would just get them killed faster, be it by the hands of another user, Heidi, or even the god Eric himself.

It just wasn’t fair, but as an iHOP came into view, Craig decided that it was better to enjoy the peaceful moments rather than dwell on upcoming despair.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We didn't get to find out what was going through Kyle's head, did we? Well, we'll find out next time in the thrilling conclusion to the Seventh’s arc!
> 
> Thank you so much for reading, and I hope you enjoyed!


	17. Lack of Context

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I missed the deadline because of midterms! I’m sorry, but at least it’s finally out!
> 
> Warning: LONG chapter. Very long. Have at least an hour of free time before attempting to read this in one go.

 

 ******01/01/2017 01:24 AM [Black Residence, Outside]**

The final “get out, my parents will be home any minute” has been enforced, so all the boys stumbled around, trying to make their way home at different walking speeds. Getting intoxicated might not have been the best idea for several teenage boys trying to hide their bad choices from their parents, but all of the adults were having their own New Year’s party at Liane Cartman’s, so it wasn’t going to be much of a challenge.

“Should’ve saved some money for an Uber,” Kyle groaned. “It’s too damn cold, and you’re too damn heavy.”

Though a bit buzzed himself, Kyle had to drag a wasted Stan with his arm around his shoulders back to his house. He did consider returning to his much better bed and let Stan sleep on the couch, but he wasn’t going to let his mother chew him out for underage drinking.

“Kyyyyyyle,” Stan slurred, followed by a giggle. “Race you hoooome!” He stood up to walk on his own, but he started running like a toddler down the sidewalk until he reached a stop sign, which he grabbed onto for support. When Kyle caught up, Stan grabbed his arm, and they continued walking together.

Once they reached their neighborhood, a man in a maroon bodysuit attempted to march with his arms swinging wildly past them. He turned to the boys and stared at Stan.

“Young man!” he bellowed, which made Kyle want to cover his ears if it didn’t mean having to drop Stan. “Yoouuuu… are FAR too wasted… GO HOME!”

There was no doubt that this was Randy pretending to be a superhero in spandex, but what Kyle didn’t understand was why he was out here dressed like that in the first place. He assumed it was some sort of dare given to him at the party, and Kyle sensed the irony in Randy’s statement, but there’s no reasoning with a drunk, so he just nodded and walked around him.

“Lord E. will... protect you!” he called out after them, and Kyle rolled his eyes.

The walk through the snow was not a pleasant one, and Kyle was just about ready to drop Stan on the floor rather than his bed when they reached his house. Sharon was likely still at the party, and Shelly chose to drive back to her dorm right after Christmas ended, so the house was empty for the night. With long and heavy footsteps, the boys trudged up the stairs and finally made it to Stan’s room.

“Aw yeah, that’s my bed,” Stan beamed, patting the blanket hanging off the mattress and touching the floor. He crawled onto it and sighed heavily, and at that moment, his mood changed instantly. The smile on his face fell, and his half-lidded eyes dulled. Noting this, Kyle sat on the bed and lied on his back.

“Hey, Stan,” said Kyle. He stared at the ceiling and regretted turning on the lights when they entered the room. The brightness was irritating.

“Thanks... for taking me home. I love you.”

“Don’t mention it. Love you too, man.”

“Kyle. I _love_ you.”

“I know, Stan. You’re my super best friend too.”

Stan pouted, but he was much too inebriated to form a coherent explanation as to why he was upset, so he decided to groan obnoxiously before falling asleep. Kyle was left incredibly confused by that reaction, but once he saw that Stan was asleep, he placed the trash can beside the bed and made himself comfortable on the carpet with a pillow and the extra blankets from the closet.

* * *

**10/20/2017 12:12 PM [South Park High, Cafeteria]**

The boys sat in their usual lunch table, each of them talking to a specific person rather than the group as a whole. None of them paid any mind to the other’s conversations.

“You ran into Mr. Johnson because you were walking and texting. You knocked his papers onto the floor. That’s an embarrassing moment. I’m writing about it,” Kyle teased as he typed away in his many months old diary.

A few days after learning about what exactly Tweek and Craig were typing in their phones all the time, Kyle thought it would be funny to do the same, so he and Stan formed their diaries on each other’s embarrassing moments. For this particular moment, Stan began to deviate from only writing about blackmail material to writing about several things that Kyle did that caught his attention, which is how he ran into the teacher, to begin with.

“I wasn’t texting. I was writing about something you did.”

“What? What did I do? What did you write?”

 **12:00 PM [South Park High, Floor 1, Hallway 2]  
** Kyle is still hiding his new haircut under his hat. It looks nice though.

“If I tell you, it wouldn’t be blackmail,” Stan claimed. His phone was tucked safely in his front pocket, and due to Kyle’s issues with personal space, he knew it would be safe.

Kyle rolled his eyes. “Whatever it is, it’s probably not even noteworthy.”

“That’s what you think,” Stan replied, smirking.

“Um…”

Stan noticed David standing behind and tapping Kyle on the shoulder. Kyle stood from his seat to face him with a smile, which made Stan’s eyes narrow in suspicion.

“Oh, sorry!” Kyle apologized. “David and I are supposed to work on our US History project in the library. I’ll catch up with you later, man.”

“I don’t mind eating in the library,” Stan said, standing as well.

“Dude, don’t distract me _again_ ,” Kyle laughed, patting Stan on the shoulder. “How can I work when you keep answering ‘George Washington’ for everything and playing paper football with Kenny?”

“We’re gonna play paper football?” Kenny chimed in.

“Ooh, can I play fellas?” Butters asked. “I can build a goal with the foil from our tacos!”

While Butters took the foil from Stan’s tray to begin building, Stan turned his attention back to David and Kyle, who seemed to be chatting about something that he couldn’t hear. They ended up leaving with Kyle waving goodbye, so Stan sunk back in his seat with a groan.

Butters chuckled to himself as he continued folding, which caught Stan’s attention.

“They’re not gonna work on the project,” he said in a singsong voice.

“What do you mean?” Stan questioned, raising an eyebrow.

Kenny elbowed Butters, but Butters gave him a confused look. He then understood and whispered, “Ohh! Oops.”

“What?” Stan insisted. “What do you mean they’re not working on the project?”

“Means they’re gonna fuck in the library,” Craig answered, deadpanned. His response led to Tweek moving his arm off of him, followed by folded arms and an annoyed huff.

“Leave him alone, Craig,” Tweek grumbled. “You don’t have to make him feel bad.”

Stan’s head whipped back towards the exit, then turned back to his friends. “S-so are they dating or just fucking? How did I not know about this?!”

“Because Kyle didn’t want us to tell you,” Kenny admitted. He looked down on Butters, who apologetically shrunk in his seat. “He knows you like him, so he felt bad.”

The defeated look on Stan’s face triggered everyone’s sympathy. Even Craig couldn’t bring himself to make another joke at his expense.

“Aw, it’s okay, Stan!” said Butters. “I’m sure you’ll find someone else. There’s uh… plenty of fish in the sea!”

“Even better since you’re buh-bisexual,” Jimmy pointed out. “Way more options.”

The boys began listing off every attractive person they could think of while Stan pushed his tray in front of him and lied his head on the table. He scooted his chair back to see his diary from under the table, then sighed.

 **12:15 PM [South Park High, Cafeteria]  
** Kyle left with David. I don’t even want to know what they’re doing.

* * *

**10/01/2018 06:23 PM [Main Street, Community Park]**

“It’s crazy! I mean, what are we supposed to do now that our school’s been half-destroyed?! On top of that, I can’t believe Tweek just let us all die! ...almost,” Kyle exclaims, leaning back on the bench.

“It is crazy,” David replied softly. He sat with his elbows propped on his thighs and his clasped hands pressed against his lips. “Never thought I’d find myself in that kind of situation.”

Kyle sat up and leaned his head on David’s shoulder. “So, uh… I don’t know why you called me here, but... if it’s because I didn’t come to find you right after everything that happened, I actually did try, but the guys were dragging me to find Tweek.”

“No, it’s my fault. I left the school after what happened. Had to check on my family, you know?”

“Oh, well are they alright? That woman didn’t attack anywhere else, did she?”

“They’re fine. It’s just… scary. Thinking of all the danger they can get into.”

“Hey, I’m sure everyone will be safe,” Kyle assured, patting him on his thigh. “That woman wants something from Tweek and Craig, and none of you guys really talk to them, right? I doubt she’ll target you.”

David bit his lip and closed his eyes. He stood suddenly, startling Kyle into scooting to the side.

“I’m sorry. It’s not you, it’s…”

Kyle stared up at him. He knew what those words led to. Everyone knows those words.

“I… don’t think we should see each other anymore.”

Kyle quickly stood, his eyes blinking rapidly to try and process what he had just heard.

“Wha… what? You’re breaking up with me? What did I do?”

Instead of answering, David began walking home, and Kyle was too shocked to chase after him. He just stared blankly, unable to understand the series of events that occurred today. It didn’t make sense, and he was sure that he hasn’t done anything to upset David, so their sudden break-up had his head reeling.

From a nearby tree, Stan stood with his back to the bark and his phone in his hand.

 **06:25 PM [Main Street, Community Park]  
** David broke up with Kyle for some reason. He’s really upset.

Though his diary went through some changes due to Heidi’s arrival, this particular entry was left unaffected since he read it that morning.

“Stan?”

Knowing that he couldn’t hide from Kyle, Stan stepped out from behind the tree and took a seat on the bench. The frustrated Kyle rested his head on Stan’s shoulder, so Stan stretched his arm under his chin to pat the side of Kyle’s head.

“You saw what happened, so I don’t have to explain it,” said Kyle.

“Diary predicted it,” Stan whispered in case anyone was listening. “I should’ve told you.”

“Nah. That would’ve stressed me out all day.”

After a period of silence and staring out into nothing, Kyle pulled out his phone.

“You’re not gonna stare at his texts, are you? You’re just gonna make yourself even more depressed,” Stan explained.

“No, I was just going to check the group chat. It’s been buzzing in my pocket ever since I met up with him.”

“Oh, I started that. Remember when I said that I was gonna explain to you what happened with Wendy later? That one police officer? Well…” Stan checked if the coast was clear, then turned back to Kyle. “Tweek and Craig are users. That’s obvious, right?”

“Right,” Kyle agreed.

“Well, if Heidi wanted their phones, and Wendy wants to investigate their phones, that means Wendy might find out about the diaries. She wants me to see what they do with their phones, so I’m inviting everyone to Funland. They won’t notice me staring if they’re focusing on walking straight. You should come.”

“You want me to help you expose them to Wendy?”

“I don’t think she’ll do anything bad with that information. I’m sure she just wants to help them.”

“You say that, yet you don’t even know anything about her.”

Stan huffed. “Don’t be like that. Let’s go to Funland tomorrow. It’ll help you forget about him.”

Kyle sighed. Having just been dumped, Stan’s obvious and way too sudden crush on Wendy irritated him further, but he decided to let that go with hopes that he could get over David, even if it’s just temporary.

* * *

**10/16/2018 03:41 PM [Harrison Children’s Home]**

The unexplained breakup haunted Kyle for weeks, so he finally dragged himself to the foster home David stayed at and forced himself to confront David for answers. It was unfair that he was left in the dark for so long, and he wasn’t going to leave until he gets answers.

The person who answered the door was a brother of the owner, who allowed Kyle to enter and have a seat wherever he’d like. Kyle met the boy, who he believes is named Dave, during several occasions while visiting David, but he never cared to interact with him due to his overbearing kindness.

Kyle could tell that Dave knew about the breakup from the way he said, “so are you here to see… uh…”

“Yeah, but I’ll go find him myself.”

“Yes, of course! Please let me know if you need anything! I’d be happy to fix you up a snack while you’re here!”

“No, that’s okay. I won’t be here for too long,” said Kyle, hoping Dave would leave him alone.

The house was two stories high and consisted of multiple bedrooms with four to six beds each. For a foster home, it was very clean and nicely decorated, something that contrasted with Kenny’s experience. He passed by rooms filled with cheerful children jumping around and playing with each other, another thing that contrasted Kenny’s experience.

At the end of the hall, he could see Kevin Stoley walking into a room with a phone in hand. He followed Kevin and watched as he spoke with David, who was sitting at a computer.

“It’s an app that’s supposed to be like an extension of Gary’s diary. His diary keeps track of us— _well, the kids, mostly,_ so this app will allow people outside the home to make their own diaries.”

 _Gary’s diary?_ Kyle wondered. _That guy is part of the survival game?_

“Mmm… I don’t think people will care for that,” David replied. “I don’t even think they’ll understand the purpose of it.”

“Actually, I was thinking that the app could help us find the other users,” Kevin pointed out. “It’ll be free, but the only people that will download something like this are people trying to imitate users, a.k.a., their allies. It also monitors their entries, so that should give us clues.”

“Wow, nice job, man. But like… what would we do with that information? Investigate them?”

“Well, we should definitely tell Gary to watch out for them, for one. And, uh… I guess it depends on who we find.”

David took the phone from Kevin and stared down at it. There were pre-written entries about what Gary was up to, courtesy of Dave, who claimed that he wanted his diary to revolve around his overworked brother’s health and safety.

“If only _he_ wasn’t involved,” he mumbled.

Confused, Kevin tilted his head. “What?”

“I never told you why I broke up with Kyle, did I?”

Kevin shook his head. “I didn’t want to ask. You looked upset.”

David held up the phone to show the entries. “If we go through with this plan, you’ll find out soon enough.”

Deciding that he had heard enough, Kyle turned to leave as quietly as he could, but he was stopped by Dave, who held a cheese and cracker platter in his hand.

“Oh, you’re leaving? Would you like me to put this in a Ziploc bag for you?”

Kyle shook his head and walked around him, but Dave’s voice attracted David to the hallway, allowing him to catch Kyle and grab his wrist.

“How much did you hear?”

Kyle pulled his wrist out of David’s grasp and walked out of the house without another word. David stayed in place as Kevin and Dave tried to console him.

* * *

**10/17/2018 01:13 PM [Harrison Children’s Home]**

Through his diary, Stan learned what Kyle overheard at the Children’s Home. He passed on the information to Wendy, who brought him back to the scene to investigate.

With a manila folder in one hand, Wendy used her other to smooth her cream sweater and adjust an olive scarf before knocking on the door. Stan admired her casual wear since it was the first time that he had seen it. He followed suit by adjusting his signature hat and green letterman.

“Hello, welcome! Come inside!” Gary greeted as he waved for the two to enter. “What can I do for you two today?”

“Actually, I’d like to speak with you,” said Wendy. She lifted up her sweater to reveal a small glimpse of her badge. “Privately.”

Stan could sense the immediate suspicion from the residents, who could all be seen eyeing them from different corners of the living room. He turned his attention back to Gary, who began leading them to his office.

Though they were now behind closed doors, Stan could still feel the presence of the residents. He swears he could feel them breathing down his neck, but before he could tell Wendy about how their conversation isn’t exactly private, she nodded at him understandingly and mouthed out, “it’s fine.”

“What do you need to speak with me about, Officer Testaburger?” Gary wondered. He pulled out folding chairs for Stan and Wendy, then took a seat in his desk chair.

“Sources have told us that you are a diary owner.”

Gary sat with his mouth agape for a moment, then closed it as he handed Wendy the phone in his pocket.

“You must be collecting them. Please take this from me. I don’t want to take part in such an immoral competition.”

Wendy took the phone and pulled up the diary. She was met with entries about all of the children under his care, many of which were listed being right outside of the door. Sighing, she handed the phone back to Gary.

“This looks important. I’ll give this back to you, so please continue to watch over these children. I want you to contact me immediately if you or anyone else in your care comes in contact with Heidi Turner.” Wendy hands him a folder containing a sketch of Heidi with her devilish grin. “I’m sure you’ve already seen her at the Cathedral, but this is just to make sure you remember her face.”

“The Cathedral…” Gary repeated. “So you’re…”

“Your allies,” Wendy smiled. “We would like to be, anyway. I want to make sure that you and everyone here is protected.”

“You can’t be our allies,” a brunette in double French braids declared.

“Nelly, please be reasonable,” said Gary, but Nelly’s expression didn’t soften.

“There can't be an alliance between users. Only outsiders,” Nelly stated. The children behind her nodded, with some mumbling variants of “yeah”.

Wendy didn’t bother trying to reason with the residents. “Our offer still stands. We do want to protect you all, so please let us know if you see her. You can rely on us to end this game.”

“That’s very noble of you,” Gary praised. “I’ll be sure to let you know if any of us spot her. I’ll put my faith in you, Officer Testaburger.”

The two shook hands, and Wendy and Stan exited the room. As Wendy headed for the front door, David stopped Stan, who glared at him in return.

“What do _you_ want?” Stan hissed. Being somewhat of a no-secrets zone, the other residents watched the interaction without interruption, waiting for some sort of drama to unfold.

“Just giving you advice,” David spoke in a low tone. “If your alliance with her fails, she'll be a terrible opponent to face.”

“I would never hurt Stan,” Wendy assured, which made Stan’s heart skip a beat.

Stan trailed after her, but not before turning briefly to whisper, “I won’t take advice from someone who hurt Kyle.”

* * *

**10/28/2018 06:38 PM [Broflovski Residence, Kyle’s Room]**

The rush from fleeing a crime scene. The drop in heart rate from returning to the safety of his room. The disappointment from learning that it was all for nothing. All of these emotions were felt by Kyle within a matter of minutes.

Roger’s diary was thrown onto the carpet with a frustrated cry, though it already had a crack from the back of Kyle’s knife from earlier.

“It doesn’t say anything about Ike. The dogs didn’t even react the day he died, so he couldn’t have been killed in the woods. This phone is useless!”

Stan glanced at the phone, then left it where it landed while he sat on the floor with Kyle. He pats Kyle’s shoulder, but Kyle’s face was hidden behind his knees.

“Don’t say it,” Kyle muttered.

“Didn’t plan on it,” Stan replied.

Once the rush of a planned murder ended, Kyle felt some remorse for his actions, but he was more upset about not finding Ike’s killer. The only other living users he knew of were Tweek, Craig, Wendy, Stan, and Gary, and none of them didn’t seem like the likely culprit.

“Maybe those kids, the ones living with Eighth… Maybe they killed Ike to protect him?”

“You’re not suspecting your own ex, are you?”

“No!” Kyle exclaimed. “I’m just saying that maybe the other kids did it behind his back! David knows Ike. He would never.”

“Craig and Tweek know Ike too, so it can’t be them. Wendy said that she trusts them. And I know for a fact that Wendy would never do something like that either!”

“There are other users we don’t know about. Eleventh and Twelfth. Then there’s Turner, but somehow, I get the feeling that she would’ve made another user kill him rather than do so herself.”

Stan pulled his knees to his chest as well and groaned into them.

“Then we’ll find out who they are and see if they had anything to do with Ike.”

He wasn’t sure how he felt about possibly attacking and killing these users, especially since he would be going behind Wendy’s back to do so. The idea of her breaking their alliance, or worse, sending him to jail made him shudder. Kyle, noting this, narrowed his eyes at Stan.

“I don’t care how much you like Wendy. If you tell her about this, she’ll arrest us.”

“There’s no body since you broke the phone, so there’s no proof. I won’t mention it, but she won’t be happy knowing that I helped you kill a user instead of bringing him to her.”

“Well sorry if I’m not thinking straight right now!” Kyle screamed, jumping to his feet with balled fists. “Ike’s missing, and I’m almost 100% sure he’s dead, so forgive me if I’m a bit irrational!”

“Kyle, hey, calm down!” Stan pleaded. He stood to grab the teary-eyed Kyle by the shoulders and push him down to sit on the bed gently. “I’m not blaming you. I totally understand. It’s okay. I’m on your side, alright? It’s gonna be fine, okay?”

Though Kyle’s heartbeat stabilized, his tears still fell. He leaned forward and held his head in his hands.

“This is a nightmare. This fucking game just keeps getting worse.”

Stan didn’t know what to say, but at times like these, he learned that silence isn’t a bad thing. He sat beside Kyle and hugged him without a word while his mind raced with questions.

_How did this happen? Why did this happen?_

He really did like Wendy, but when the game began, he swore to himself that he was going to help Kyle in any way possible, and it’s not just because their diaries are connected. He mouthed “sorry” to Wendy, knowing that helping Kyle would probably cause her to despise him.

Most of all, he hoped that whatever caused Ike’s downfall wouldn’t come for them next. He may have a rather nihilistic outlook on life, but he doesn’t actually want to die. Not yet, anyway, and certainly not like this.

* * *

**11/23/2018 12:51 AM [Marsh Residence, Stan’s Room]**

“The guns were a bad idea,” Kyle said, trying to catch his breath as he placed his and Craig’s gun in Stan’s drawer. “But we should be fine now. I stopped hearing the sirens some time ago.”

Once Stan regained his composure, he gave Kyle a look of concern mixed with hesitation. He didn’t know how to address the events that had just occurred, especially those that involved Kyle luring Clyde to the scene. It was one of the diary changes that he didn’t have a chance to read with Tweek practically breathing down his neck, so he didn’t know what the outcome was going to be.

“God, dude. I’m really trying to keep up with you here. What was all that about?”

“I don’t know,” Kyle claims, his hand pressed on his forehead. “I just get so…”

“Impulsive?” Stan suggests.

Kyle rolled his eyes, but not with ill intention towards Stan. He knows Stan is doing his best to look out for him, and here he is, doing dumb and dangerous acts that could get him killed for the third time during this game. From what he’s heard about Tweek and Craig’s adventures throughout the game, this was how Tweek was behaving, and Craig was slowly losing his patience with him. He didn’t want that kind of relationship with Stan.

“Yeah, impulsive,” he reluctantly agrees. “I’m not thinking about the consequences anymore. I take the first thought that comes to mind and act on it. I’m so fucking stupid!”

Stan reassures him with a pat on the back. He thinks back on how he chased after Wendy to the hospital when she _and_ Kyle told him not to.

_“I swear if she dies because you stopped me from saving her, then consider this friendship over.”_

He deeply regrets saying those words to Kyle. Kyle stuck beside his self-destructive ass when he was crying over Wendy’s death, so he wanted to do the same, but he wished Kyle would let him in on his plans. He didn’t want to have to rely on the diary just to know what Kyle was thinking.

“I know we could try and fix our alliance to stop the remaining users together, but I can’t shake the feeling that those two can kill us at any second,” Stan claims. “I can’t read them, but I just know that they can’t trust us either.”

Kyle hummed. He flopped backward onto Stan’s bed and squeezed his eyes shut.

“I brought Clyde into this mess, so there’s no way that Craig won’t want revenge. I wasn’t thinking. I was making impulsive decisions. I don’t even know why I made him interrupt. I…”

“...actually wanted him to kill you, didn’t you?”

“No, I… I want to live, it’s just…” Kyle covered his face with his hands and groaned. “...the guilt is eating me alive, Stan. It’ll be even worse if we manage to kill Tweek and Craig.”

Stan lied beside him and looked up at the dark ceiling. “We’re in too deep now. I’m sure that Eric guy will be pissed if this fight drags on any longer. I mean, he’s been having Heidi move things along because he’s impatient and sadistic, and you know that she has to do what he says.”

“Yeah…” Kyle mumbles, remembering Heidi’s dilemma. He began to wonder if he would be killed for _not_ fighting, considering the talk he had with her.

“Hey…” Stan spoke up. “If… you wanna die because you’re guilty, then… I’ll—”

“Stan, I don’t want to die, but… I feel like… I _have_ to fight them, and I guess… either I die and repent in a way, or I live and feel the guilt until the game is over. That’s the right thing to do, isn’t it? Fight them and see what happens?”

“I’ll be honest. I don’t know the answer to that.”

Kyle quietly contemplated his and Stan’s words. All the signs pointed to his imminent death, and he didn’t know what to tell himself to lighten the situation.

“It’s ironic,” said Stan. “Usually, you’re the one who knows what to do. You’re basically telling me that your options are to die or live with the guilt. I don’t like either of those options for you.”

“I know, but I don’t know what to do. I can’t bring myself to commit suicide, but I don’t really… mind the idea of having someone else end my life at this point. Ike died because of me, I killed someone else for no reason, I purposely ruined a possible alliance with the only people we could’ve trusted, I dragged Clyde into a fight he shouldn’t have been in... What the fuck is wrong with me?! What kind of mentality has taken over to make me do these things?! Shouldn't the only option now be to die to make up for everything that happened?!

“Kyle, I’m not gonna to tell you to get yourself killed, but I know I can’t stop you if this is what you’re set on.”

He was right, and Kyle felt his chest tighten from those words. He didn’t know what he wanted. All he knew was that he wanted the guilt to stop suffocating him.

Stan turned his head to face him. “I guess what I’m saying is… that… I’ll stick with you no matter what you choose, so at least put up a fight for my sake.”

“Stan, don’t die for my stupid choices. I shouldn’t have dragged you down with me. I should just go to this fight alone—”

“Aren’t you forgetting something?”

Kyle raised an eyebrow, so Stan pulled his phone out of his pocket and held it up.

“Our diaries are connected. If you die, I die.”

The realization hit him like a blinding spotlight. He completely forgot about Stan.

“Oh, shit, Stan, I— _fuck!_ I’m so sorry! I completely forgot about that! No, I’m not gonna let you die because of me—”

“To be honest,” Stan interrupted, returning his gaze to the ceiling. “I’m tired of all this hiding, the paranoia, not knowing if a Dead End flag will suddenly show up. We’re gonna fight, and whatever happens, at least we’ll be together.”

He flashed a smile in the darkness. He still didn’t know the plan for this next fight, much less the outcome, but he wasn’t going to worry about it at the moment. However, he hoped that with enough time, Kyle might even renounce his desire for death altogether.

After a brief moment of astonishment, Kyle acted on impulse once again. He rolled onto his side, pulled Stan close for a chaste kiss on the lips, then quickly stood from the bed.

“...I think I’m gonna head home.”

Stan stood to grab Kyle’s hand, but Kyle pulled away.

“I need some time to think alone, but… thanks for helping me back there. And thanks for everything else, too. I… don’t know what I’d do without you.”

“Oh, uh… No problem, dude.”

Kyle smiled before he left, leaving Stan confused and disappointed. He didn’t try to chase after him, and he was angry at himself for missing such a perfect opportunity.

* * *

**11/23/2018 11:52 AM [IHOP]**

Tweek slid back into the booth and waited for Craig to get closer to the bathroom before handing Thomas back the insurance card sandwiched inside of his phone case.

“He already knows that you paid for the bills, but… I mean, it’s not weird for a dad to pay for his son’s hospital bills, it’s just that—”

“Tweek, don’t worry about it. Really,” Thomas assured. “I worked hard to get where I am now, and I just want to show you guys how much I’ve changed, even if it’s something subtle like paying for your bills.”

“I have to thank you somehow!” Tweek insisted. “Uh… maybe I can try and find those bottle ship things or something.”

“Actually…” Thomas began.

Tricia and Tweek both tilted their head curiously since they didn’t expect him to want something in return. Tricia assumed it was something related to winning back Laura, but Tweek was clueless.

“I, uh… heard from Laura that you two have been getting yourselves into a lot of trouble lately. I was actually gonna pay for your bill too, but it looks like you used your money for it.” He rubbed his back nervously and looked towards the bathrooms. “I’m not trying to pry into your lives, but I care about you guys. If you’re in danger, then I hope you could trust me or Laura enough to tell us about it, or at least contact the police.”

Tweek’s head lowered, his eyes fixating on his scrambled eggs. He recalled the sirens from the fight and didn’t want to imagine what would’ve happened if they were caught with guns.

“This town is constantly facing something crazy,” Thomas notes. “If you plan on going to college outside of town, you should. There are much safer places in Colorado.”

Now, Tweek feels a lump in his throat. College was something that they weren’t going to live long enough to experience. Prom, graduation, his own wedding… none of that was going to be possible at this rate.

Thomas didn’t know how to react to Tweek’s sudden despair, so he turns to Tricia for answers. Not wanting to blow their cover, Tricia just shrugs in response and returns to her pancakes.

Without making eye contact with Thomas, Craig slid back into the booth and immediately asked, “so where did the money _really_ come from?”

“I stopped screwing around and worked for that promotion,” Thomas admitted with a chuckle. “Nothing illegal, of course. Just a lot of overtime and hunchback nights. Speaking of which, I need to get myself a better mattress if I ever plan on recovering.”

Though it was common for Tuckers to not hold a conversation with each other for very long, Thomas missed talking to Craig, so he hoped his efforts would get Craig to warm up to him. Craig had stopped glaring after a few bites of bacon, so he felt that something must be working.

Of course, he knew better not to bring up what he spoke with Tweek about. Tweek may have been the more talkative of the two, but since he became depressed from the topic, Thomas knows Craig will shut him out completely. Fortunately, Tweek had reverted back to normal before Craig returned to the table, so he didn’t notice anything.

“So do any of you have plans for the rest of the day?”

“Karen’s gonna sleep over. We’re gonna buy some snacks, so don’t take any if you’re not gonna watch movies with us,” Tricia directed at the boys with a fork dipped in whipped cream, to which Tweek giggled at.

“We can watch movies with them, right Craig?”

“No, they watch dumb movies,” Craig complained. “We should play video games.”

Thomas noted Craig’s struggle to use his splinted hand to cut pancakes, but he wasn’t going to embarrass him by trying to help. He watched Tweek help instead, glanced at Tricia giggle at her phone, then smiled to himself.

* * *

**11/23/2018 12:43 PM [Tucker Residence, Outside]**

The middle of a populated neighborhood was no place for a confrontation, but when Stan and Kyle were spotted heading towards the Tucker home hand-in-hand, the boys couldn’t help but keep their eyes on them. Tricia hopped out of the car with family sized bags of puffy Cheetos and popcorn, but when she caught sight of the boys, she quickly headed towards the window of the driver’s seat to thank Thomas as a distraction.

“Couldn’t beat us in a fight, so you think you can out-do us as a couple? Weak,” said Craig. He wrapped his arm around Tweek’s shoulders and held him close while Tweek side-eyed the two. “You don’t even look convincing.”

Kyle glanced at Craig’s splint, then walked to his side with Stan’s hand still in his.

“Next Saturday,” he whispered. “Come to the U-Stor-It at midnight. We’ll end this.”

As they left, Tweek glared at them, then turned Craig to face him.

“A week?!” he hissed. “They switch you to a cast in a week! You can’t fight in a cast!”

Craig dragged Tweek into his room and leaned back on the door to close it.

“We have no choice. I won’t let you fight alone, and I’m not gonna send the guys to a fight that doesn’t involve them. Besides, if Clyde finds out about this, he’ll try to stop it or something, and we can’t let him do that.”

Tweek fidgeted with the collar of his t-shirt. It was much warmer inside of the house, considering that he and Craig left to eat while still in pajamas, but most of the warmth Tweek was feeling was coming from the frustration boiling inside him.

After sighing, he grabbed Craig’s arm, lifted it gently, then held the splint in front of him.

“Please heal soon,” Tweek prayed. He pressed a light kiss on the black fabric covering his wrist before wrapping his arms around Craig’s neck. “I’m so sorry. Maybe if we stayed together the whole time, this wouldn’t have happened.”

“We probably would’ve been too big of a target,” Craig explained as he hugged him back. “Maybe the diary said that we split up from the beginning because it would’ve worked better that way. Lessen the chance of finding ourselves in a two versus one, you know? And there was no Dead End, so that must mean something.”

Tweek pulled away and sat on the bed to check his diary, hoping that he could see an entry from days in advance. When he did, his eyes widened, but he remained quiet until Craig sat beside him.

“Wow…” he commented. “If you kill one, the other dies too.”

“Guess that’s what happens if you’re the same number.”

“...if only we were the same number.”

“So we can die together?”

Craig’s hopes for the two of them to stay together for the rest of their lives resonated with Tweek, as well as his pleas for Tweek to not sacrifice himself, so Tweek liked the idea of them staying together no matter what. He didn’t want to think of death, however, so he smiled at Craig.

“That sounds like the perfect ending for us, but let’s not talk about something so depressing.”

Tweek stared at Craig’s splint again. The doctor’s instructions for a speedy recovery involved ice packs, medication, and keeping his wrist above his heart level as much as possible.

“Sorry, Craig. I should’ve been making sure that your wrist was elevated,” he apologized as he stacked several pillows on Craig’s lap and under his wrist. “I’ll grab the controller for you so we can see if you can still play, but let me grab your medicine first. Does it hurt?”

“It’s more of a numbness, but if I move it, it hurts a bit,” Craig confessed.

Tweek pouted. He knows it doesn’t actually help, but he kissed Craig’s splint again, pecked him on the lips, then left for the bathroom to grab the prescribed painkillers.

* * *

**12/01/2018 12:00 AM [U-Stor-It, Outside]**

The cast Craig wore only covered his wrist with a few inches stretching out to his palm and forearm. He couldn’t hold a knife in both hands like Tweek, but at least he didn’t need an arm sling that would further hinder his fighting ability.

“We didn’t have to come,” Tweek grumbled, second-guessing their choice. “If we stayed home and hid, we would’ve been safe.”

“Mom would’ve made us go to school,” Craig explained, sighing. “And if we didn’t come today, we could be attacked on the way to school, on the way back, literally any time we’re away from the public.”

“We could’ve stayed where there was always people!”

“Kyle’s a fucking smart-ass, babe. I just know he would’ve tried to get us alone somehow, just like his brother did.”

That comment struck a nerve in both of them, causing Tweek to inhale sharply and for Craig to change the subject.

“Besides, we’re already here.”

Craig was aware of how paranoid he sounded, but now was not the time to make a comment about couples becoming more like each other the more time they spent together. He did, however, rub his thumb on Tweek’s hand to reassure him. Their diaries still predicted their victory, but neither of them wanted to rely on that.

Since Tweek’s diary warned him about Craig facing another injury by climbing the fence, he brought a pair of wire cutters to create a hole to crawl under. He held up the piece he cut, waved for Craig to get through, then had Craig hold up the piece so he could crawl under. After pushing it back into place, the couple dusted themselves off and walked toward the entrance.

“You’re right-handed. How do you expect to use a knife?” Tweek pointed out with a huff.

“You don’t need that much coordination to stab.”

“You need to hold it properly to keep the knife in your hand in case someone tries to knock it out!” Tweek hissed.

“Believe in me, Tweek,” Craig assured. “We’ll get through this, just like we always have. You know I’ve spent this past week trying to learn how to use my left hand, so I’m definitely much more prepared than I was before.”

“I’m just so scared of losing you…”

“No time for tears, babe,” said Craig. “We’ve got a fight to win.”

The two walked into an area surrounded by dim lights and storage units. As they walked, Craig held his knife in front of him while Tweek held onto Craig’s fingers as he watched his back.

“They’re hiding in unit 133,” Craig notes. “It might be on the other side.”

“Keep walking slowly,” Tweek advised. “I still got your back, don’t worry.”

When the two reached the end of the row of units, the diary static alerted them to check their phones.

 **12:08 AM [U-Stor-It]  
** Several colored smoke bombs are thrown in front of us.

“Colored smoke bombs?” Tweek questioned as he looked over Craig's shoulder. “That’s not the same as a smokescreen, right?”

His question was answered by shades of pastel pink and blue fogging up their vision and forcing them to step back and wait for their opponents to jump out. Instead, the bombs just kept coming, which pushed them back even further.

* * *

**12/01/2018 12:06 AM [U-Stor-It, Storage Unit 133]**

Kyle glanced over at Stan, who was putting up a brave front by at the other end of the garage door to convince himself that the situation wasn’t as dire than it actually was. He wanted to reassure Stan, but he couldn’t find the right words to say.

“They have to know we’re hiding in here, so what should we do? Hide behind boxes and attack when they come close?” Stan asked, clutching his knife to his chest.

Unsure of how to answer, Kyle made the obvious choice to check his diary. With no other enemies around — _at least he hoped that was the case,_ he was sure that having his diary out would be alright.

 **12:09 AM [U-Stor-It, Storage Unit 133]** **  
** Craig knows where Stan is hiding and pushes the boxes onto him.

“He knows where you’ll be hiding,” Kyle warned, clicking his tongue. “Maybe there’s something in here that we can use as a distraction.”

“Okay, so don’t worry,” Stan said, turning to smile at Kyle. “You can stay farther back. I’ll look for something distracting.”

“Come on, man. I’m not gonna let you do all the work. Okay, so there’s no entry about the boxes over there,” Kyle says, pointing to an open box sitting in a bigger box filled with fabrics.

Stan shined his phone’s flashlight at the box to find it bursting with baby themed party decorations and several cans of colored smoke bombs.

“Gender reveal party?” Kyle guessed, but Stan was already opening the garage door slightly to slide the activated cans under the space. He threw them to the right until they rolled towards the gate and released the pastel smoke.

“Grab the rest and keep throwing!” Stan whispered. “This stuff’s really thick!”

Kyle slid under the space and threw his cans in the couple’s direction. He watched a foot stumble back as the smoke sprayed towards them. Soon, a nearly opaque wall of pink and blue blocked off the entrance to their row of storage units.

“I’ll go after Tweek this time,” Kyle whispered as Stan crawled out from under the garage door. “He’s on the left, so aim for Craig on the right!”

As planned, the boys sprung out of the corner and lunged towards their respective targets through the smoke before it could dissipate and reveal them too soon. All the couple could see were two indistinguishable knife-wielding arms forcing themselves into their field of vision.

“Craig, watch out!” Tweek warned as he pushed Craig aside. Without proper balance, however, Craig immediately fell over.

Before Tweek could hurry and help him up, both Stan and Kyle blocked his path with Kyle being the one to deal the first strike. He dealt a flurry of attacks without hesitation, causing Tweek to stray further and further away from Craig. Tweek tried to make his way back to Craig’s side, but he couldn’t find an opening in Kyle’s defenses, leaving him to continuously try and dodge attacks to save himself for the time being.

“He’s fucking injured because of you!” Tweek screamed. He lunged forward in an attempt to disable Kyle by cutting his knife-wielding hand, but he missed. “How can you begin to call this a fair fight?!”

“Never said anything about fair,” Kyle replied as he dodged Tweek’s attacks with frequent side steps and ducking. “Just said this would be the end.”

At this point, Kyle knew there was no way to revive their sad excuse of an alliance. He was fighting to keep himself and Stan alive, but he didn’t actually care for the outcome of the match. Whatever happens will be a sign of what he should do about coping with everything he had done, and that was it.

When Kyle targeted Tweek’s stomach with a low slash, Tweek jumped back and attempted to knock the knife out of Kyle’s hand by aiming his own at Kyle’s wrist. Though his blade nearly brushed the thick sleeve cuff, Tweek was met with another failure when Kyle moved his arm away and dodged his attack.

“How stupid of me,” Tweek spat. He circled Kyle, trying to find another opening while keeping his defenses up and keeping a lookout for Craig’s well-being. “To think you would do anything fairly after killing Clyde’s dad out of rage, purposely sabotaging our alliance, _and_ working with Heidi to bring us down! Yeah, don’t think we wouldn’t notice!”

“Oh, you mean when Heidi told me about Kenny finding a dead body in your backyard?”

Though Kyle recalled Heidi not confirming his theory, there wasn’t anything else he could think of that would involve a secret in a backyard, but Tweek’s reaction was enough to prove that he was on the right track. He didn’t think he’d end up distracting Tweek with his words for this match. He didn’t think he was going to do anything aside from actual fighting in this match. His body and mind were just working on their own.

“I don’t know what she or Kenny told you, but I wasn’t the one who put that there!” Tweek exclaimed, losing his composure. He slashed sideways abruptly, but the sloppy execution was easy for Kyle to dodge.

Meanwhile, Stan had no problem keeping himself safe around the one-armed Craig. He felt bad about the idea of kicking someone while they’re down, but it was his (and Kyle’s) life versus Craig’s, and he promised himself that he would keep Kyle alive long enough to make him realize that he can still fix his mistakes.

On the other hand, Craig was able to get back on his feet, but the idea of not having a free hand to prevent another fall made him anxious. He was the one to convince Tweek to come to the fight, and he was the one to plot with Token and Jimmy to keep Clyde away at all costs. Basically, his life being in danger at this moment is his fault, but he was too stubborn to back down now. Plus, Tweek was starting to disappear from sight, so he didn’t know how he could even try to pull him out of the fight.

“Craig…” Stan whispered, briefly shifting his eyes in Kyle’s direction. “I really don’t want to fight you like this.”

Craig’s arm shot forward, but his knife only pierced the air when Stan dodged his attack with a quick side-step.

“Pity won’t save you,” Craig huffed, dismissing Stan’s attempt at a plea. He swung outward, only to have Stan jump back and slide. He wasn’t going to allow a broken wrist to stop him from protecting Tweek.

“Craig, come on!” Stan hissed, though he made sure Kyle was out of earshot. “I know Tweek talked you into this! Kyle did the same to me, so we can work together to stop them!”

“The only person here I trust is Tweek,” Craig claimed. He kept his back to the wall to prevent any surprise attacks, despite Kyle being completely out of sight. He could still hear him and Tweek running and talking about something, but he wasn’t in the position to be tuning into their conversation. “Unless you hand over your diary, there’s no guarantee that you won’t turn on me. Besides, _I_ talked Tweek into this fight, not him.”

“Okay, I get it, but hear me out, okay? I know you did what you did to Ike and Wendy because you were backed into a corner. Now I’m backed into a corner, so please, you gotta help me talk some sense into Kyle! I mean, I don’t hate you, so I kinda don’t wanna have to kill you.”

“Did you already forget that you guys also killed Clyde’s dad _and_ lured Clyde into the last fight to kill him?! You think you can save yourself by pinning the blame on Kyle and claiming that you want to help him?!”

Craig charged forward with his knife ready to stab down on Stan’s shoulder, but Stan ducked and rolled out of the way just in time, though the maneuver was not nearly as swift as he would’ve liked, causing Stan to struggle for a few seconds to recover from the bruise forming on his elbow.

“You can’t redeem yourself, Marsh. As long as you continue to defend him, I won’t hesitate to kill both of you.

Now that it was clear that reasoning with Craig was impossible, Stan made sure to keep moving, staying on his toes to swing, stab, and dodge as much as possible. He couldn’t lose to an opponent much weaker than he was. He struck downwards to stab, but his arm was blocked by Craig’s, who knocked it aside. Craig swung at Stan again, managing to knick his cheek. By this point, they had strayed farther and farther away from Kyle and Tweek, making them unable to see how they were doing. They couldn’t risk checking their diaries in the middle of a fight, so all they could do was continue to swing at each other.

* * *

**11/30/2018 11:48 PM [Valmer Residence, Outside]**

“Why aren’t you sleeping over again?” Clyde asked Jimmy as he unbuckled his seatbelt.

“I p-promised Tim that I’d come over to prepare for the s-s-science fair at 10. I’ll nehh… I’ll n-never get any sleep with you guys around.”

“Fair,” Token agreed.

Behind them, Clyde watched a red pickup truck drive up to Craig’s house. He waved at Jimmy to stay while he tried to see what was going on.

“Is that Craig and Tweek?” Clyde whispered.

The boys watched Thomas and Laura step out of the car to chat.

“Oh hey, did Craig’s parents get back together?” Token wondered. “That’s nice.”

“Craig’s dad was cool. You know, aside from the spending problem,” Clyde pointed out. “He let us do anything if Craig’s mom didn’t know about it remember?”

“Y-yeah, he was cool,” Jimmy recalled with a grin.

“Why don’t you say hi? I doubt he’d be bothered by you being out this late,” Token suggested.

“It’s not even that late,” Clyde stated as he and Jimmy stepped out of the car.

As Laura entered her home after giving Thomas a quick kiss, Clyde and Jimmy approached him.

“Hey, M-mr. Tucker!” Jimmy greeted.

“What’s up? How’s Craig?” Clyde asked.

Thomas gave them a confused look.

“Craig’s not with you?”

In the event that Craig snuck out without either of them knowing, Clyde wanted to keep that secret for him, but he wasn’t masking his confusion well. He’s sure that his contemplating look gives him away, but he just couldn’t figure out where Craig could’ve possibly gone.

“Oh my god…” said Jimmy. “We… left them at Wall-Mart.”

“Oh my god!” Clyde joined in, albeit poorly. “Tweek’s there too! How did we forget about them?”

“Oh, Craig,” Thomas sighed. “He always wanders off. Don’t worry, I’ll take them back home. Which Wall-Mart did you leave them at?”

“Past the berry farm!” Clyde exclaimed, his answer being the first Wall-Mart he knew of. He assumed Craig wouldn’t be there, or he hoped that was the case. “But you know, we can go get them. It’s our fault for leaving them there anyway—”

“Nah, it’s fine,” Thomas assured. “I just wanna check on him. Make sure he’s on the right road to recovery.”

“Yeah, okay. Goo… good night, Mr. Tucker!” said Jimmy. “We’ll tell them that you’re coming!”

He dragged Clyde away by the wrist to bring him back to Token’s car.

“What happened back there?” Token wondered as Jimmy and Clyde sat in the front and back seats, respectively.

“Craig isn’t home!” Clyde panicked. “You don’t think he left to fight again, do you?”

Token leaned back in his chair, then turned to face Jimmy, who gave him a nod.

“He did,” Token answered. “He and Tweek are facing them right now.”

“What the hell?! Why didn’t you tell me?!” Clyde cried. “Come on, we have to go there right now!”

“We don’t know where they are,” Jimmy explained. “C-Craig didn’t want… he didn’t want you to f-fuh… to f-find out.”

“You would’ve gone down there to get yourself killed, so he and Tweek told us to keep you away from them,” Token added.

“Are you guys insane?! Craig’s in a cast, and Token, your diary doesn’t work anymore! They could die without us!”

“I know that, but our main priority is making sure that _you_ don’t get killed!” Token tried to reason, though his yelling didn’t seem to change Clyde’s mind.

Clyde tried to exit the car, but Token activated the child lock and began driving back to his house to prevent Clyde’s escape. He jiggled the door handle and flipped the lock, but no avail. He tried scooting over to reach past Token’s chair to flip the switch himself, but Token stepped on the pedal abruptly, which caused him to fall forward and smack his face into the chair.

“Sorry, Clyde, but I can’t let you go down there,” Token apologized. “None of us know how to use a weapon, anyway. We can’t do anything. Now buckle your seat-belt.”

Clyde complied, but he desperately began calling Craig despite knowing that there was almost no chance of him picking up. As expected, he reached his voicemail, so he forcefully fell back in his chair and whined loudly. Once he calmed down, he leaned forward and began texting.

 **Clyde:** idk where you are but your dad’s coming to get you! heads up!!!   
**Clyde:** come to token’s so i can break your other arm for fighting behind my back !!!!!1!!

Again, Clyde didn’t expect a response, nor did he get one, which made him even more anxious. He tried glaring at Token from the rear-view mirror, and though he caught his eye, Token chose to ignore him.

“I told you that we don’t know where they are. We’re going back to my place, alright?”

“You didn’t drop off Jimmy. Drop him off, then I’ll sit in the front seat.”

“N-nice try, but no,” said Jimmy. “I have to k-keep you s-saa… keep you s-safe.”

Clyde whines loudly again, this time pushing his legs outward to purposely push Token’s chair forward, an act that was barely tolerated. But Token chose to keep his composure and continued to drive up the street until they reached his house.

“Our friends are dying, but we’ll never know,” Clyde pointed out with arms folded. “All because you won’t take me to them.”

“Okay, _look,_ ” Token growled, holding his phone up to reveal the chat between the gang minus Clyde. “Scroll through this, and tell me whether or not you see an address or any kind of location.”

Clyde instantly took back his suspicions the second Token snapped, but he took his phone anyway with hopes that there was something Token overlooked.

 **Tweek** : The fight’s in an hour. If you don’t hear from us by tomorrow, we’re probably dead.   
**Token** : Dude, don’t sound so depressing. You guys won’t die.   
**Tweek** : I’m just warning you just in case!   
**Craig** : anyway don’t let clyde out of your sight got it?   
**Craig** : he might just get himself killed   
**Token** : I know. You already told us.   
**Jimmy** : We’ll keep an eye on him. Promise   
**Tweek** : You gotta swear!! Seriously, don’t let him near us!!!   
**Jimmy** : We don’t even know where you’re going   
**Craig** : you know how fussy clyde can get. can’t have him try to force answers out of you guys   
**Tweek** : Exactly! So keep him safe!!!   
**Jimmy** : Calm down, Tweek. He’ll be fine   
**Jimmy** : Just don’t die on us you guys   
**Craig** : we’ll try not to   
**Tweek** : Craig!!!   
**Craig** : *we won’t

“So what did you find?” Token asked, his annoyance still apparent.

“Well…” Clyde began. “Why did Jimmy send Craig’s dad to Wall-Mart, then?”

“Who would get into a fff... a fff-fight to the death at W-Wall-Mart?” Jimmy reasoned. “It’s open 24 hours.”

“He’s gonna try to look for them!” Clyde panicked, pressing his face against the window. “We can’t let him find them!”

“What are we gonna say to him though?” Token asked.

“That they took a Lyft back to your place, obviously!” Clyde exclaimed. “What if he finds them nearby and ends up finding out about the game? Have you considered that?!”

At a loss for words, Token and Jimmy looked at each other for answers, but neither of them knew what to say. The two decided to stick to their original plan to keep Clyde locked in the car, much to Clyde's frustration.

* * *

**12/01/2018 12:05 AM [Wall-Mart, Parking Lot]**

“I’m not here, I guess. Leave a message or whatever.”

“Sorry I missed your call. If it’s important, then please leave a message!”

Thomas sighed, bored from sitting in the parking lot after neither Craig or Tweek answered his calls. He decided to wander around the store not because he figured that he’d run into them, but since he was there, he figured he could grab a snack before going home.

When he reached the chip aisle, he spotted Kenny holding a bag of Doritos while on the phone. He recognized him as someone who visited often to hang out with the boys or dropped off/picked up his sister when she hung out with Tricia.

“No, I’ll take care of it,” he overheard Kenny say. “They’re my idiot friends, after all. Thanks for letting me know, Marshall.”

He knows Kenny is a friend of Tweek and Craig, so he wondered if Kenny would know where they were. _“Idiot friends”_ also struck a nerve since he remembered Laura telling him about the boys often getting into trouble. When Kenny put the Doritos back and power-walked out of the Wall-Mart, Thomas followed him, though he tried to look as inconspicuous as possible.

Upon exiting the store, Kenny disappeared into the shadows for a moment, then reappeared in his Mysterion costume as he began scaling a building. It took a second for Thomas to make the connection and continue to secretly follow Mysterion to wherever he was heading. He’s heard of Mysterion before, so there was no doubt that something dangerous was going on. He hoped it didn’t involve the boys, but since no one knew where they were, he was left with suspicion and paranoia.

10 minutes later, Mysterion led Thomas to the U-Stor-It, and while Mysterion stayed on a nearby rooftop to check something on his phone, Thomas was drawn to the lights of the storage facility, knowing that it shouldn’t be open at this hour. He easily slipped past Mysterion’s radar since he was focused on watching the boys fight through his binoculars.

When he got close to the scene, he could hear people running around. Though he did recognize Kyle’s and Stan’s voices as ones that he had heard before at some point, he didn’t immediately make the connection that it was them specifically, so he walked closer to investigate.

* * *

**12/01/2018 12:15 AM [U-Stor-It]**

The teams were all separated, but neither could find the opportunity to run to and save their partner. It wasn’t an ideal fighting style, but at least it kept the teams from finding themselves in a two-against-one situation.

Except Tweek thought that was bullshit. He wanted to believe in Craig, but no amount of “trusting your partner” could force him to not think about his boyfriend’s disability. How he could even let himself get roped into another battle was absurd, and now he wanted to take out his frustrations on Kyle. However, the thought of losing control and brutally murdering Kyle wasn’t something he wanted to think about. Sure, if Kyle or Stan killed Craig, he would have no problem brutally retaliating, but…

Actually, there was no “but”. To keep himself from dwelling further on the topic, he tried once again to find an opening. When Kyle’s knife shot forward, Tweek stepped to the side, spun on his heel, then stabbed the shoulder of Kyle’s knife-wielding arm, disabling him the same way he did to Craig.

When Tweek pulled out his knife, Kyle switched his knife to his other hand with relative ease, save for the pain of moving his arm even a centimeter out of place. He didn’t have the same kind of pre-battle training to practice wielding a knife with his left hand, but he didn’t show much of a struggle by the way he gripped his knife and continued to chase after Tweek.

Believing his injured state would slow him down immensely, Tweek tried to run back to Craig’s side. As he ran, he glanced at his phone briefly to find Craig’s location. He didn’t realize how far he and Kyle had strayed away since Craig and Stan were several rows down, but since Kyle continued to chase him, Tweek had to think of a way to get to Craig as soon as possible.

Craig’s wrist started throbbing from all of the movement, which slowed him down, but not enough for Stan to land an attack. A failed dodge allowed Stan’s knife to brush against Craig’s cheek, startling him into taking several steps back.

Stan seemed considerate enough to avoid hitting Craig’s wrist, finding that to be unnecessarily cruel, but his targets were all instant-death rather than disabling. The blood dripping from Craig’s sliced skin made Stan feel a twinge of regret, but he put Kyle’s life over Craig’s and ultimately chose to try and kill him. He chased after Craig and swung at his neck, causing him to fall backward in an attempt to dodge.

Standing back up after a fall wasn’t Craig’s specialty at the moment, and neither was crawling backward to avoid what could possibly be his death. He figured that now would be the perfect time to attempt to roll away and push himself up with his good hand so he could find Tweek.

Stan walked forward, completely prepared to deal the final blow. His arm was raised high to strike down at Craig’s back, who was trying to push himself back up, Instead of Craig, however, a man he didn’t recognize jumped into his field of vision, and suddenly he was seeing a large blue sweater slowly darken with a redder hue.

“Wh… What the fuck?!” Stan screamed as he stumbled back, leaving his knife in the man’s back as they collapsed.

When Craig got back on his feet, his heart dropped at the sight of his father bleeding to death beside him.

“Craig…” Thomas breathed out. He tried turning to face him, but Craig looked away to erase the image from his mind. “Are… are you okay?”

“Dad…” Craig whispered, his eyes locked on Stan. “Why the fuck are you here…?”

“I came in time… That’s all that... matters…”

Every emotion he felt before causing Ike’s demise rushed to Craig at once. Stan snapped out of his trance to grab his knife back, but Craig slammed the side of his body into Stan to knock him over and, without a trace of hesitation, sliced Stan’s neck.

“Always killing innocents…” Craig muttered, standing beside Stan’s soon-to-be corpse. “And you wonder why we have no pity for you.”

As Tweek reached Craig, Kyle caught up quickly, but he was too distraught by the sight of Stan’s state to attack Tweek.

“You bastard!” Kyle screamed, charging towards the two with his knife gripped tightly in his hand.

Craig jumped back to avoid the knife swinging in his direction. He raised his own to defend himself, but Kyle had dropped to his knees by Stan’s side instead, his knife clattering on the floor. Figuring that this will occupy Kyle, for the time being, Craig rushed to Tweek’s side.

Tweek tried to attack Kyle, but Craig held him down, shaking his head. Craig motioned for him to watch instead of fight, as he was sure that those two have already lost. Stan was losing too much blood. There was no way that he could’ve survived that.

 _He killed my dad_ , Craig tells himself, looking to his father’s body lying in a pool of his own blood. _He killed my dad, and that’s why I had to kill him._ But the way Kyle propped himself up with his hands and hovered over Stan’s motionless body made him nearly regret this act of revenge.

“Why’d you have to go and get yourself killed…?” Kyle whispered.

Ignoring the pain of his wounded shoulder, Kyle carefully moves and holds Stan’s head in his lap, the blood pouring out of his best friend’s neck staining his jeans maroon. He fights the urge to cry with the sliver of hope that doing so would cause some sort of miracle to happen. His blurring vision proves his efforts to be unsuccessful, and squeezing his eyes shut doesn’t do a thing. He pays no mind to the sickeningly “happy” couple holding each other behind him, resentful that they’re not experiencing the same tragedy.

“Get up, asshole. You can’t die on me!”

Stan stares up at him with half-lidded eyes, then attempts a smile. The world around him is fading away, but he can still see his love forcing himself not to shed tears in front of him.

The next message was mouthed out, as Stan had completely lost the ability to speak at that point. Despite this, Kyle nodded, knowing exactly what he was trying to say.

“I’m so sorry…” Kyle apologized, his tears dripping onto his pale face. “I shouldn’t have dragged you into this. I should’ve never made you fight with me. I…”

He grabbed onto Stan’s hand and brought it to his face. His next words were mouthed out, leaving Craig and Tweek clueless.

“I should’ve never pretended to love you back. I should’ve never held your hand or kissed you. I was so caught up in my appreciation for you that I...”

Stan ended Kyle’s string of silent apologies by squeezing the hand holding his own and smiling as his eyes turned a dull, lifeless blue. His last breath triggered Kyle’s connected Dead End, causing parts of his body to fade in and out of existence.

But this wasn’t some kind of fantasy where wishing hard enough could wake him up. This was the end of the Super Best Friends.

Kyle reached into Stan’s pocket to grab his phone, picked up the knife he had by his side, then stabbed straight into the screen. Just like him, Stan began to fade in and out as well.

Craig and Tweek held onto each other’s hands tighter as they witnessed the scene. Craig felt hot tears roll down his cheeks from the regret of killing one of his friends, but Tweek only stared blankly, emotionless. He wasn’t intentionally being heartless, but at this moment, Tweek could only see himself in their position, holding Craig as _he_ disappeared from existence.

Finally, the Seventh was out of sight for good. Stan’s phone lied on the floor with Kyle’s knife stabbed into it, and Kyle’s had fallen only centimeters away. Craig walked over and picked them up, pulling off the knife and shoving both phones into his pocket.

He then turned to his father’s corpse behind him. Blinded by revenge, he slit the throat of his father’s killer instead of trying to save him, but saving him came with a price. He couldn’t fight by Tweek’s side, leaving him to be possibly killed by two other users. He loved his father, but as selfish as it sounded, he couldn’t live without Tweek.

Now all that was left was to report a body without the suspect being a part of this world anymore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alternative title: “How to Stop Doing Stupid Shit”. On top of everyone else being dead, I pushed this off until after my midterm exams, so I’m also dead. All are welcome in the dead kids club.
> 
> If you don’t hate me and want to continue reading this, the next update will be in exactly one month or less! It only gets worse! Thank you, come again!


	18. Vows

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was actually gonna post this on Creek anniversary, but I barely missed it because I was way too tired to write. Anyway, enjoy!
> 
> [UPDATE: Added some background music for one scene, but you'll need spotify to listen to it. You'll see this [ ♫ ] symbol.]
> 
> [UPDATE 2: 3000+ views! I'm so happy!  
> If you're back at this chapter for whatever reason, just know that I will be back with the next chapter before Christmas! I'm very busy with finals right now, but I haven't forgotten about you all! Thank you for your support!]

******12/01/2018 12:22 AM [U-Stor-It]**

Mysterion jumped down from the rooftop he was on and hurried over to the scene, but he couldn’t save Thomas in time. From afar, he watched blood and tears fall, unable to bring himself to give his own input on the matter.

Once Kyle and Stan disappeared, he walked up to Thomas’s corpse and kneeled beside it. He sighed at the sight of pooled blood and grief-stricken teenagers, though he wasn’t sure what to say to relieve the heavy tension.

“They killed him too…” Tweek muttered, clutching the fabric of his coat by his chest. “As if Clyde’s dad wasn’t enough…”

Craig knew it was an accident, but he was too distressed to correct Tweek. His dad was the last person he expected to try to stop the fight. Even Mysterion was an option, but although Mysterion was right in front of him, he didn’t have anything to say.

“You guys should go home,” Mysterion instructed. “I’ll take care of things here.”

The boys agreed and left without asking what exactly was Mysterion going to do. They weren’t the ones who killed Thomas, and the real killers vanished from time and space, but they were too mentally exhausted to let questions of any kind bounce around their heads. They just wanted to sleep for a few hours. Maybe even a few days.

The first matter to take care of was the cameras around the facility. Mysterion assumed Kyle wouldn’t try to kill someone with obvious evidence, and he was right. Each camera had been removed from their mounts, and he’s sure that this was done with gloves to prevent fingerprints. As he walked around the facility for more evidence, Mysterion could see blood stains on the black pavement where Tweek and Kyle fought. He sprayed it with hydrogen peroxide, then wiped it off the ground.

“This is illegal,” Mysterion sighed as he cleaned, but he couldn’t have something like this added to the report when the employees show up later that day. He recalled Kyle bleeding heavily when his shoulder was stabbed, but Tweek or Craig could’ve been hurt before he arrived at the scene, so he couldn’t have that traced back to them. He still needed them for answers, after all.

For now, it was another diary user incident. The perpetrators have fled from the scene, much like the story used for Wendy’s disappearance. Mysterion noted the cause and time of death before calling Red and her recovered squad to the scene.

* * *

**12/01/2018 12:30 AM [Main Street, Outside]**

“There they are!” Clyde exclaimed, pointing at Craig and Tweek through the window. “Come on, drive to them!”

Token didn’t argue for him to calm down. He and Jimmy managed to calm Clyde enough to keep him in the car for the past few minutes, but once the fight ended, Kenny finally let them know where the couple was. As soon as they got the text, Clyde insisted they pick them up right at that moment.

“They d-don’t look hurt,” Jimmy noted. He and Clyde stuck their arms out of the window to wave the two over.

Craig and Tweek entered the car wordlessly, both too traumatized to speak. They leaned forward in their seats and propped themselves up with their elbows on their thighs.

Clyde placed his hand on Tweek’s shoulder, who was closest to him, and leaned forward to look at his face. Tweek’s eyes were half-lidded and dull, haunted by the day’s events, and Clyde wouldn’t be surprised if Craig was the same way.

“At least you’re alive,” he assured.

Finally, Tweek broke down and began sniffling, worrying everyone in the car. Craig pulled him close and hid his face in his chest, but the others didn’t know what caused Tweek’s tears. They weren’t sure how he felt about Stan and Kyle, but because they quickly agreed to not one but _two_ death matches, they assumed that their relationship was tense.

“It had to happen,” Token claimed, also assuming Tweek’s distress was caused by having to kill Stan and Kyle. “They weren’t going to back down, and… I don’t want to say that they deserved it, but... they did do some fucked up things, so… You know what I mean.”

“How did my dad find us?” Craig asked, his hands still keeping Tweek’s head close.

“I-I didn’t know you guys were fighting,” Clyde admitted. “He found out that you weren’t with us, so we told him that we left you guys at the Wall-Mart by the berry farm. I don’t know what could’ve caused him to go to the U-Stor-It, though.”

“Did you g-g… you g-guys get in trouble? Where is he… anyway?” Jimmy asked, looking out the window. As soon as he asked that, however, he realized that if they were in trouble, Craig’s dad would’ve taken them home.

That’s when it clicked for everyone, and Craig was sure they all came to the same conclusion by the way they all quietly gasped to themselves.

“Yeah…” Craig confirmed. Feeling the prick of tears in his eyes, he lowered his head to Tweek’s level. “Fucking idiot ran into Stan’s knife and… got himself killed.”

Tweek clutched Craig’s shirt and buried his head lower. “We were right to kill them…” he muttered. “Craig’s dad had no right to be killed, but they still did it! They deserved to pay for what they did!”

The boys, even Craig, were stunned by Tweek’s words. Though Craig could still explain to Tweek that it was an accident, he felt that there was no need. Wrong target or not, it still happened. Hell, the whole fight happened because of those two, and he couldn’t find a good reason not to place the blame on them. As much as he was unsure about his father, he truly believed that the man shouldn’t have gotten killed like that.

“Is he… still back there?” Token asked, referring to Thomas’s body.

“...yeah. Kenny’s dealing with it,” Craig answered. “...now that I think about it, I think someone might have reported the lights being on over there and sent Kenny to check it out. Guess that’s how he found us.”

Figuring that they wouldn’t want to go back home in the event that Craig’s mom found out about his dad, Token drove them all back to his place. It was difficult for any of them to get some sleep.

* * *

**12/08/2018 11:12 AM [Main Street, Community Park]**

“We are gathered here today in memory of Thomas Tucker. A man loved by his family, friends, and those around him whose lives he had touched in some way…”

But as Father Maxi spoke, Craig tuned out his voice to stare blankly at the closed casket before him. Thomas had been cremated at the request of Laura, who claimed that was what he wanted, so there was nothing inside of the casket to see. Craig thought it was a good idea as well, considering how he couldn’t even look at his father’s bleeding body as he died.

It’s not like he could pretend that it didn’t happen, anyway. He, his family, and everyone around him were all dressed in black. There was a framed photo of Thomas with the words “rest in peace” under it. Laura was being consoled by her friends and Tricia. There was no way to pretend that none of this happened.

Beside him was Tweek, who was just an absolute mess of tears and mucus. He had been sobbing during the previous mass, but since he was one of the pallbearers, he had to halt his despair until they took the casket to the burial site. Once he took his seat in the crowd, he had been wiping his face with tissues and shoving the soaked ones in his pockets. Eventually, his tissue packet was emptied, so Tricia reached over Craig and handed him another. Behind him, Clyde, Jimmy, and Token tried to reach over and pat Tweek in some way.

Craig rubbed Tweek’s arm, and Tweek rested his head on Craig’s shoulder. He briefly eyed his mother to see how she was doing, and to no surprise, she was as much of a mess as Tweek was. After a friend of Thomas’s read out his eulogy, it was Laura’s turn, so she wiped away her tears and stood. The siblings and Tweek watched as she tried to stand up straight as she walked.

“Oh, Thomas…” Laura began, placing her hand on the casket. “I hope we’ll soon learn what happened to you, but for now… There were so many things that happened between us, and I can’t stand the fact that this is how our story ends. We’ve been through tough times, but even during our time apart, you worked so hard to prove that you are capable of being the best version of yourself that you could be… You were so proud to show me that you’ve changed, and I couldn’t be happier for you. You never stopped loving me, and these past few months showed me that I’ve never stopped loving you as well. I just… I just wish that you were here so I could tell you that I want to be with you again, to be with you forever...”

Tricia squeezed her eyes shut, and Karen tried to balance herself on one knee to hug her from behind without blocking the view of everyone else. Craig pats her on the shoulder, though his eyes were focused on his mother. He tried to make sure she didn’t suddenly lose balance since she began crying again, and he was sure that she would fall off the platform with her vision blurring like that. When she finished her eulogy, both Craig and Tricia stood to help her off the stage.

The crowd watched as the casket was lowered, all silent, save for those incapable of crying without making a scene, that being Thomas’s mother. Laura glanced at her briefly, but being the one who divorced her son, she wasn’t sure if speaking to her was the right decision.

When the funeral ended, the gang huddled together, but there was no game plan to be discussed. They all were concerned for Craig’s wellbeing since he didn’t shed a single tear during the entirety of the service. His blank expression stayed with him from entering the church to this very moment, something that bothered Tweek more than everyone else.

“Don’t just keep it to yourself,” said Tweek.

“Yeah,” Clyde added. “No one will judge you for crying at a funeral.”

Craig closed his eyes and took a deep breath, but no tears followed. He had nothing left to say, and while everyone else who attended was trying to cheer each other up by talking about other things, Craig couldn’t get himself to do the same.

“I just wanna go home,” Craig sighed, shoving his hands in his pockets. Though he couldn’t read lips, when he glanced at his mother, she seemed to be saying the same thing to her friends from the way she was dismissing them with a wave. He could see how tired she was. Tweek cried buckets, but she had been crying for the entire week leading up to this day.

Tweek grabbed onto Craig’s arm and waved goodbye to the guys. He led them to Laura and Tricia, but Laura was staring at Thomas’s parents again as they spoke with Father Maxi.

“We should go, Mom,” Tricia insisted, knowing the tense relationship between her mother and her ex-in-laws. “Craig can drive if you can’t.”

Craig, having passed the driver’s exam but hasn’t touched a steering wheel in the entire year that passed since he got the license, agreed. While he did feel empty after the funeral, he was the only one whose eyes didn’t puff up and redden from excessive crying, so he was the only one who could take Laura’s car back to the house.

Then again, Craig still had his broken wrist, though he could move the fingers sticking out of his cast with relative ease. Before Laura could protest, Craig held up the cast and said, “I can still do it. It’s just this thing that’s annoying.” He poked at the small bit of fiberglass and plaster on his palm. “But I mean, I can still work the gear shift.”

“Sorry, Craig,” Laura apologized, patting Craig on the head. “Shouldn’t be long before you heal completely. And don’t worry. We’ll get you your car someday. Maybe for graduation.”

“It’s fine,” Craig replied. As much as he wanted a car to drive him and Tweek as far away as possible, he wasn’t concerned about that right now.

* * *

**12/08/2018 12:01 PM [Main Street, Outside]**

The drive home was unnervingly quiet with the lack of usual music and chatter, but none of the passengers pointed this out. They were all lost in their thoughts, spacing out about something not so depressing, but not quite happy at the same time. Not even Tricia played with her phone and instead stared out the window like everyone else.

Craig wasn’t fazed by the detour, though he didn’t recognize the path. He continued along without question with hopes that driving straight will eventually get him back on the main road. Unfortunately, he felt a bump, followed by the tires screeching until he decided to stop the car and check on what happened.

“As if things couldn’t get worse,” Laura groaned. She stepped out of the car to see if one of the tires had popped, and sure enough, the two on the left did. She sighed at the sight of the flat tires and held her head in her hands.

“Just call a tow truck,” Craig called out as he walked back to the driver’s seat to turned on the hazard lights. “Tires popped,” he explained to Tweek and Tricia, who were confused from the back seat.

“Did you run over something?” Tricia asked, but she didn’t stick around to hear Craig’s answer.

Tweek leaned forward and whispered, “close the door” once Tricia left.

Craig did so and poked his head behind the seat. “Seems sketchy, doesn’t it?”

“What should we do? Get everyone to stay in the car and call someone? Wait, no, just check your diary.”

As Craig and Tweek spoke and while her mother was on the phone, Tricia inspected the road. Though there was nothing in front of or under the car, she noticed a faint gleam a few steps behind the car, so she wandered off to investigate.

Soon, she found herself kneeling beside several small black objects and picked one up. “Road spike?” she wondered. She began to return to the car to show her mom, but then stopped when she realized how suspicious this was.

“Mom!” she called out as she ran towards her. She saw that Craig and Tweek were already rushing to exit the car, but all of them were too late.

They couldn’t tell where it came from, but a bullet came flying, and none of them could stop it from piercing through Laura’s head. She dropped dead in an instant, her phone cracking as it collided with the pavement.

“MOM!!!” Tricia screamed as she tried to run to Laura’s side. Tweek grabbed her wrist and dragged her away so they could escape with Craig.

“If it’s just a sniper, we should be fine if we keep running!” Craig claimed as he tried to lead the two back towards the park with hopes that people might still be there.

Civilization was in sight, but another shot was fired before the three could reach it. The bullet hit the side of Tricia’s thigh, causing her to fall flat onto the pavement. As she screamed, Tweek turned back to pick her up and continue running. He didn’t have time to stop the bleeding, however, which continuously poured onto his pants and the road. Craig called for an ambulance as they ran, hoping it would arrive as soon as they reached the park.

“Hello, 911?! My sister’s been shot, and she’s bleeding like crazy! We’re heading for the community park on Main Street! You’ve gotta get here right now!”

He looked back at Tricia, who was groaning in pain while clutching Tweek's chest.

“We’re on our way, sir. Where was she shot?”

“Outer side of her right thigh!” Tweek answered.

“Listen carefully. You and your sister need to keep calm. Find something clean to wrap around the wound to reduce the bleeding. If the amount of blood is as much as you say, then there is a high chance that her femoral artery has been damaged. Do _not_ try to remove the bullet, understand?”

Tricia’s heavy breathing and her grip on Tweek’s shirt began to weaken. “Hey, stay with me!” Tweek cried out, but Tricia’s eyes closed, so he leaned forward and pressed his ear to her chest. There was a heartbeat, but it was faint. The blood pouring out of her wound was a clear indicator that they were running out of time.

“I can hear the ambulance!” Craig called out minutes later, pointing ahead of them. “They said we gotta lie her down, wrap the wound, and elevate her leg. How is she?”

“She’s losing too much blood, Craig! I’m pretty sure thin people have less blood! Tricia, please, wake up!”

There was no use. Tricia had already fainted from the blood loss, but there was no guarantee that they wouldn’t get shot again if they stopped to wrap her wound.

Finally, they reached the park, and a few of the funeral attendees were still there. Mainly friends of Laura’s who were wondering about the ambulance sirens nearby, and they stuck around to see what was happening. They watched as both the trio and the paramedics met in the middle, the paramedics pushing a stretcher while Tweek hurried over to place Tricia on it.

“We got help, Trish! It’s gonna be alright!” Craig assured. He and Tweek grabbed each of her hands as the paramedics dressed her wound, but judging by the long trail of blood that followed the boys on the way here, they couldn’t make their sighs of relief just yet.

Then, Tweek began to panic. When he put his ear to her chest again, he shot back up and grabbed the arm of one of the paramedics. “I can’t hear her heartbeat!” he panicked, but Craig pulled him away.

“Tweek, don’t distract them,” Craig instructed, holding Tweek’s hands tightly. “We need to let them help her.”

“But Craig! She’s gonna die!”

“Don’t say that. They’ll save her.”

But when the two turned back to the paramedics, they all began to stand straight, away from Tricia’s body. None of them looked like they were able to save a dying girl, so for the first time since the death of his father, Craig’s tears finally fell. All three of his family members had died, and he couldn’t save a single one.

“We did everything we could—”

“Just fucking call the police,” Craig cursed, clenching his fist through blurry eyes. “And while you’re at it, record her mom’s death, too. Laura Tucker. Blonde woman, black dress, body down the road.”

Craig left without another word, and Tweek trailed after. He didn’t want to see any more dead bodies today. He didn’t want to see any more, period. He was done, and he was going to let a particular sadist know.

* * *

**12/08/2018 12:32 PM [Tucker Residence, Craig’s Room]**

“Craig!” Tweek called out as he chased after Craig. If Craig’s anger wasn’t Tweek’s fault, he would usually take his hand as he stormed off. Tweek knew Craig wasn’t mad at him, but Craig had his fists clenched as he trudged up the stairs, and he nearly had the door slammed in his face.

“Sorry,” Craig apologized when he realized that he almost hit Tweek. He took his hand and led him inside the room. “I’m just… I…”

“No, don’t be sorry,” said Tweek. “You walked up here like you had a plan, so... I wanted to know what that was.”

Craig yanked off his blazer and threw it onto the carpet before falling backward onto the bed. Tweek did the same, though not as forcefully, and sat beside him.

“I remember you telling me that Wendy met with that god Eric,” Craig brought up, his eyes on the ceiling. “I wanna talk to him.”

“About getting out of the game?” Tweek guessed.

“...these deaths are fucking me up, Tweek. I just know they’re targeting people close to me. What if they go after the guys next? What if they come after you?” Craig rolled to his side and grabbed Tweek’s hand. “I’d kill myself if I couldn’t save you. When you were in the hospital that time, I couldn’t sleep for days. I couldn’t shake the feeling that they might call me and say you didn’t make it. I was so fucked up, Tweek, you don’t understand—”

“I do understand, Craig,” Tweek assured, holding Craig’s hands in his. “I got so scared when you got kidnapped, that I…” He recalled the deaths of all of those Chaos minions. While the blood spewing from their bodies unnerved him, Craig’s beaten body elicited a stronger rage that overpowered the guilt. “...you know. Anyway, what do you plan on telling him, exactly?”

Before Craig could come up with an answer, the two suddenly found themselves standing before Eric, but to their surprise, Heidi wasn’t present. They didn’t note this out loud, however, because they were already listing the possible reasons why they were summoned there in the first place.

Eric was amused by Tweek’s obvious fear and Craig’s attempt at masking his own. He was curious to see what they would say, so he waited for them to speak.

Craig wanted to ask why the two of them had been summoned, but he skipped that in favor of getting straight to the point. “Is there any way we can be pulled out of the game?”

“I’m the one who brought you here, but you don’t even allow me to speak first?” Eric teased, but the boys genuinely believed that Craig was in the wrong, prompting their nerves to overreact.

“Sorry, you’re right,” said Tweek. “What do you need from us?”

“I overheard you saying that you were going to ask me the question that you just asked,” Eric admitted with a chuckle. “I just gave you the opportunity to do so.”

Though confused, Craig continued. “So… We’ve contributed a lot to this game. We killed…” He counted the users on his fingers. “...well, we caused the deaths of seven users, and I’m counting Stan and Kyle as two deaths. Not to mention all of those Chaos minions and police officers. We don’t want to be gods anyway, so can’t we just… you know, stop playing?”

Eric startled the boys with a booming laughter. He held his stomach and leaned forward, unable to contain his amusement, much to the boys’ confusion and concern. They looked at each other for reassurance that this wasn’t a sign of their imminent death.

“Oh, that was hilarious. To think that would be a good enough reason to allow you to leave the competition! Maybe one of you could forfeit and stay alive, but both?”

“Take Tweek out of the game!” Craig insisted, earning a shocked look from Tweek. “He doesn’t need to play anymore! He killed the most people!”

“Craig!” Tweek hissed. “Why would you say that?!”

“To impress him! If you’re out of the game, I can win, and we can stay together!”

“But you’re tired of killing and dead bodies, remember?” Tweek turned to Eric for his argument. “I think Craig should be let out! I only killed Third and led to the death of Twelfth, but Craig killed Fifth _and_ both halves of Seventh! He also almost killed Fourth when he shot her!”

“You both have contributed to much of my entertainment during this game,” Eric agreed.

Somehow, it was worse to hear the word “entertainment” from Eric’s mouth than Heidi’s. The two began to wonder where Heidi was again because it was clear now that Eric was as malicious as he was described to be.

“I won’t have either of you dropped from the competition, unfortunately. I still need you.”

The boys raised an eyebrow until Eric raised his arm in front of him and rolled up his sleeve. There were cracks running down his arm and pieces chipped off, but unlike a normal human body, the exposed chunks appeared more like an abyss of red. No striated muscles, no bones, nothing.

“You see, I originally created the game for fun. When I said that the winner would be the new god of this universe, I meant that you would be like Heidi: you would have power, but you would still be beneath me in terms of power and status. You can be in charge of a city, a country, even a continent! Whatever you’d like.”

He looked down at his decaying body and watches as the cracks grow larger. The boys caught a glimpse of displeasure, then watched as Eric brushed it off and pulled his sleeve over his arm.

“As you can see, I don’t have much time left to live. I need someone to take my place.”

“Why not have Heidi do it since she already has the power?” Tweek asked, then he immediately realized what was wrong with that question. Heidi as the new god of the universe was a terrifying thought. He couldn’t begin to imagine what she would do to torture him.

“Heidi was created by my power,” Eric explains. “Much like the Seventh, the two of us are connected. If I were to disappear, so would she, and so would the rest of this world.”

The boys bite their lips in confliction, so Eric continued to try and persuade them.

“You know nothing about the remaining users. You don’t know what kind of people they are, but I’m sure you already have some sort of hint.”

Craig already made the connection that the person who killed his family was likely trying to elicit some sort of reaction from him. From the way Eric phrased his words, Craig’s guess that a user was involved was correct.

“If one of the remaining users becomes the new god, who knows what kind of world this could turn into? Your dream of staying by each other’s side might be destroyed in the end. That’s not what you want, is it? And on top of that, how do you think they will treat someone who defeated most of their rivals, only to drop out midway?”

For all they knew, the remaining users could be working together to kill them. They had the remaining diaries to search for clues, but they needed to find a safe place to research if they wanted to stay alive.

“So what is your answer?” Eric asked.

Tweek turned to Craig, and Craig gave him a nod.

“We’ll keep playing,” Tweek claimed with a reluctant sigh.

“Fantastic!” Eric grinned, clasping his hands together. “You have 21 days remaining. I will be looking forward to your next move.”

The meeting ended with the boys regaining consciousness on Craig’s bed, just like how they were positioned before they left.

“21 days...” Craig sighed as he rolled onto his back. “Fuck… I really thought that we could make a compromise or something.”

“Yeah, but… I mean…” Tweek lied beside him. “Who am I kidding… We’re back where we started. We still have to kill each other in the end.”

The boys closed their eyes and lied on the bed in silence. Neither were asleep, but neither had anything to say. They just lied there as questions and possible answers floated around their minds.

Craig opened his eyes and spent a minute staring blankly at the glow-in-the-dark star covered ceiling. There were significantly fewer stars than when they put them up there when they were twelve, but those stars managed to give him an idea.

“Babe, wake up,” he said as he shook Tweek’s shoulder.

“I wasn’t asleep.”

“Let’s get married tonight.”

Tweek sat up and stared at Craig, who sat up as well. Craig was determined, but Tweek was as puzzled as he was the last time Craig made this suggestion.

“Why do you always suggest this at the worst times?”

“No, it’s perfect,” Craig claimed, suddenly much more elated than he ever was throughout the entire game. “We can take our minds off all of this bullshit. You can be the only family member of mine that’s not dead,  and…” He took Tweek’s hand and held it tightly by his lips. “...if we do end up dying... not being married to you won’t be one of my regrets.”

Tweek pulled his hands out of Craig’s and hugged him, hiding his blushing cheeks and teary eyes in Craig’s chest. The deaths of his beloved adoptive family and Craig’s words had his tears rushing out, his heart overwhelmed by being hit with too many events at once.

“I know you’ve been thinking about all of the things we’ll be missing out on because of the game,” Craig continued as he stroked Tweek’s hair. He, too, began to cry. “Prom, graduation, our first apartment… I can’t make any of those things happen right now, but I can use this shitty situation to get the government to marry us while we’re technically minors. You can’t get parental consent if you don’t have parents.”

“Jeez, Craig!” Tweek laughed through his tears as he playfully hit Craig’s chest with his fist. “What a morbid way to lighten up this kind of situation!”

Craig locked him in the hug and pulled him back onto the bed, laughing and crying because neither of them knew how to properly react to everything that had happened. After they burned out all of their energy, they sat back up to text the guys about coming with them to the courthouse for a private wedding.

* * *

**12/08/2018 01:30 PM [Tucker Residence, Living Room]**

When the gang heard about the couple’s plans for a courthouse wedding, they weren’t having it, especially not Clyde.

“At _least_ have a small wedding!” he cried. “If you invite more people, you might get presents! Even if it’s last minute!”

“You think people won’t ask why I didn’t invite my own mother and sister to my wedding?” Craig pointed out sarcastically, though not on purpose. It actually hurt him to say that, so he closed his eyes, took a breath, then returned to the conversation.

“Well…” Clyde began. “Okay, then a small party with just the guys. Did you wanna invite Kenny?”

“No, because he’ll find out about Tricia, and then he’ll tell Karen, and then she’ll be depressed,” Tweek explained. “Even if he doesn’t tell her right away, you know he’ll be stressing out about it the entire time.”

“Agh, true. Sorry about that by the way,” Clyde apologized, rubbing his neck. “Should we hold a mini funeral for them too? You know, have their pictures displayed somewhere.”

“That would be nice,” Tweek smiled as he eyed the family photos around the room. “We can have framed photos and put down some flowers.”

“I was going to say that I could try and pull some strings to have a wedding cake by tonight, but I don’t think that’s possible,” Token explained. “I mean unless you want a really basic cake...”

“I can make it!” Tweek suggested, raising his hand. “It shouldn’t take too long for me to make a small cake.”

“You and I need to find some rings, though,” Craig pointed out. “Don’t we need to try them on to see if they fit? I don’t know my ring size.”

“Get them from W-Wa… from W-Wa-Wall-Mart,” Jimmy suggested. “It’ll be… ch-cheap.”

“I’ll focus on the cake, you guys go to Wall-Mart for rings,” said Token. “What’s next?”

Tweek counted the necessities on his fingers. “Guests, decorations, cake, rings… Food? There’s usually a caterer.”

“I can do that,” said Clyde. “Do you guys want tacos or pizza for your private wedding slash funeral?”

“I’ve been to a wedding that had a taco bar once,” Token recalled. “There’s five of us, so maybe two for everyone?”

“Three tacos each, got it. No, four.”

“I’ll decorate the living room,” said Jimmy. “We’re having it here, r-right?”

“Yeah, and maybe put a candle by the family photos,” Tweek instructed. “So that’s guests, decorations, cake, rings, food… It’s too late for a bachelor party, too small of a party for a florist, don’t really need music…”

“I’ll play some wedding music on my phone,” Jimmy offered, holding up his phone.

“So that’s everything?” Token asked. “If so, then let’s get moving. About seven hours to get everything done.”

“Wait!” Tweek warned. He wearily looked outside. “Two people literally just died today. Is it really safe to go outside?”

The wedding energy suddenly dissipated as the boys all sat down to reevaluate their options.

“There’s a security system at my place,” Token pointed out. “We can order the rings, cake, and flowers to my door, and Craig or Tweek can find the photos for the mini-funeral. Only problem is that my parents will definitely ask why the hell we’re having a wedding and a funeral in our home.”

“We’ll just tell them,” Craig answered as he stood to gather the pictures. Before the funeral, Laura left a photo of Thomas on the living room table, so he grabbed that as well. “If you don’t mind, we might need to stay at your place for a while. They’ll understand if we tell them about the recent murders.”

Token hummed understandingly, then he noticed Clyde wrapping his shoelace around Tweek’s ring finger. Before he could ask about it, Clyde explained that there was a way to measure the circumference and check the ring size online, then he stood to grab Craig and do the same for him.

Tweek beamed at his empty finger, happy about the upcoming wedding. Because he was nervous about what might happen, however, he stood to check the future on Craig’s diary.

 **12/08/2018 09:15 PM [Black Residence, Backyard]** **  
** Tweek is worried about being outside, but the stars look so nice tonight.

 **12/08/2018 09:18 PM [Black Residence, Backyard]** **  
** Tweek and I are married with no problems. I’m so happy.

Beaming, Tweek gave Craig a thumbs up before returning the diary. The preparations went on as planned.

* * *

**12/08/2018 05:23 PM [Black Residence, Living Room]**

Steve looked over his book and watched as the boys ran back and forth with several wedding necessities. He called over Token to ask about it.

“I guessed that Clyde was making tacos were for your guys night, but what’s with all the Wall-Mart bags? And why do you have a cake?” he asked. “Is it someone’s birthday?”

Craig walked to Token’s side and placed the cake on the coffee table. “Tweek and I are getting married in your backyard tonight, so if you see the guys throwing lights and flowers around, that’s why.”

“Married?” Linda repeated with concern. “Aren’t you two a bit young? And where is your mother?”

“Dead, along with my sister,” Craig answered bluntly, now too damaged by despair to be affected by saying so anymore. “They were murdered right after my dad’s funeral.”

Token’s parents sat up straight in alarm.

“Murdered?!” Linda cried out. “Did you at least report it?!”

“Yeah, after my sister was shot and bled to death. I told the paramedics to report it. Pretty sure they’re dealing with it.”

While they were baffled by Craig’s unconcerned response, Craig picked the cake back up and left the living room to try and make space in the fridge. Token’s parents turned back to their son with hopes for better, less morbid answers.

“I, uh… offered to let him and Tweek stay with us,” Token explained. “Didn’t mean to turn this place into an orphanage, but, uh… I don’t want them to be killed either, so…”

Linda sighed and rested her head in her hand. “Token… Is Craig being targeted? If someone’s entire family has been killed, that usually means that someone is after him.”

“Craig hasn’t done anything wrong,” Token lied, and he hoped that he wasn’t making any kind of expression that would give him away. “I don’t know what’s going on, but I told him that our security will protect him.”

“Well, son, uh…” Steve began, unsure of how to take in this information. “We’re not trying to say that we don’t trust your friends, but… for your safety, we need to look into this investigation. Try and see why all of this is happening, understand?”

“You didn’t look into anything when Clyde’s dad died,” Token pointed out.

“The report stated that there wasn’t a body anywhere, and no more reports were made,” Steve replied. “Plus, three family members in a row? Son, that’s clearly suspicious.”

Token huffed and turned away from his parents. “I’m going to prepare for this wedding now. It’ll be at nine, and you’re welcome to watch.”

* * *

**12/08/2018 08:50 PM [Black Residence, Backyard]**

After cleaning up the mess of taco sauce splatters in the kitchen, Clyde hurried outside to place the tortillas and meat in the food warmers that were prepared by Token on the porch. He gazed in awe at Tweek and Jimmy’s decorations: white flowers, string lights and family photos hanging from the porch railing, a row of chairs, and a small balloon arch that was way too small to walk under, all of which complemented the snow-covered backyard perfectly.

“You guys are gonna freeze out here, but it’ll be beautiful!” Clyde beamed. He began feeling the chill as well, having walked outside without his jacket.

“Is Token inside getting the cake?” Tweek asked as he brought the arch to the table. “I think we should put it in between all the food warmers.”

“Yeah, but what are you doing, dude? Craig’s already getting dressed, and you look like you sat outside blowing up balloons for an hour!”

“‘I left your suit on Token’s de… desk chair,” said Jimmy. “Go get d-dressed!”

“Ahh! It’s almost nine!” Tweek panicked as he ran back inside the house. He didn’t even notice Craig walk past him.

“Got the rings,” Craig announced as he handed a box to both Clyde and Jimmy. “Take it that Tweek still needs to get dressed?”

“He was helping with the dec… dec… decorations,” Jimmy explained, holding an arm out to show his and Tweek’s work. “Wh-what do you think?”

“Good, but tape the arch down or something. Looks like it might fly away,” Craig instructed as he straightened his suit. “So we decided to just have it here on the porch?”

“We were gonna have it over the-there…” Jimmy pointed at the snow. “But the snow kept falling when we sh-sh… shoveled it.”

“Fair. That’s fine, but someone should help Tweek get dressed.”

“I’m on it,” Token claimed as he brought the cake outside. “Clyde put your jacket on. You’ll freeze. Craig and Jimmy, watch the cake.”

“You don’t want sn-snow on your cake?” Jimmy called out after him with a chuckle.

Token jogged up the steps and found Tweek fumbling with his buttons, something he hadn’t seen since they were kids. He walked over to pull his hands away and help him out.

“You’re so nervous, dude,” Token smiled, shaking his head. “Relax. I got officiated online while I was waiting for the cake. You’ll be legally married soon.”

Tweek attempted to put on his tie while Token was fixing his shirt. “The diary said everything was gonna be fine. I’m just… really jittery right now… Of happiness, not nervousness! But we’re supposed to be married by 9:18, and I can’t get this stupid tie on!”

Token stood to fix the poorly knotted tie while Tweek tried to maneuver around him to tuck in his shirt. To prevent Tweek from becoming more nervous, Token refrained from telling him about his and his parent’s conversation. He was sure that they might bring it up later, but he knows they would have the decency to not do anything to freak out two people on their wedding day.

Once Tweek’s fluffy mane was gelled back, save for the bottom strands that refused to stay down, he was led by Token downstairs and out the back door where the others were waiting.

“Hurry up!” Jimmy called out. “Craig is t-turning blue!”

“Why didn’t you go inside?” Tweek scolded, which managed to cause some of his hair strands to pop out. Token hurried to his side to comb them back down.

“Who cares?! Just get over here and marry me already!”

Token walked over to Clyde and Jimmy, pointed to the portable fireplace, and turned it on. The boys stared at it wide-eyed, completely oblivious to its existence.

Clyde and Jimmy stood beside Craig and Tweek respectively, the rings in their hands. Token stood in the middle with a printed script of his officiator lines.

[[ ♫ ]](https://open.spotify.com/track/5Tbp1FvXQjd1lnzcCBn5vf?si=VJPP8lilR8insyM0GIjopQ)

“We are gathered here today to witness my two best friends, Craig Tucker and Tweek Tweak, in holy matrimony. I can’t imagine two people more perfect for each other, and since this printout just says the vows part, I’ll just skip to that.”

The boys giggle, then try to regain their composure as Tweek began his vows.

“Craig… As much as I still think it’s weird to have a wedding like this, I understand why. We’ve been through… _way_ too much these past few months, and I’m just… I…”

Craig wiped his tears away. “It’s okay. Keep going,” he smiled.

“I was just… so happy to hear that you… wanted nothing more than to marry me. You’ve stuck by me for so long. You were always by my side when things were rough, and to this day, you _still_ … want to be with me. I kept thinking that one day, you’d wake up and fall out of love with me, but… that day never came. You’re still here, and… it’s like a dream. This is so cheesy, but… I really do believe that we’re soulmates, and… by being married like this… nothing will break us apart. I love you so much, Craig Tucker. I always will. I’ll do anything and everything to keep you by my side.”

Craig held onto Tweek’s hands and looked up at the sky.

“I really wanted to get married outside where we could see the stars, but it’s freezing, so I won’t torture you for too long.” He turned back to Tweek’s glossy eyes and held his cold hands tighter. “Tweek… I treasure every moment that I spend with you, so you never have to worry about me falling out of love with you. In fact…” Craig started tearing up as well, and he could hear Clyde cooing in the background. “...I’m so hopelessly in love with you, that I wanted to marry you as soon as possible. Sure, the events leading up to this is in no way ideal, but…”  He glanced at the pictures and smiled. “...as I said before, I’m going to make you my new family. I’ll keep standing by you no matter what. I love you so much, Tweek Tweak. I love you more than you could ever know, and nothing would make me happier than for you to become Tweek Tucker. I’ll do anything and everything I can to make sure you’re always smiling, even in this fucked up situation of ours.”

“Tweek, will you have Craig to be your husband, to live together in holy marriage? Will you love him, comfort him, honor and keep him, in sickness and in health, and forsaking all others, be faithful to him as long as you both shall live?”

“I do,” said Tweek.

“Craig, will you have Tweek to be your husband, to live together in holy marriage? Will you love him, comfort him, honor and keep him, in sickness and in health, and forsaking all others, be faithful to him as long as you both shall live?”

“I do,” said Craig.

Clyde and Jimmy hand over the rings, and Craig and Tweek take turns putting them on each other. As soon as they were on, they pulled each other close for a kiss before Token could finish his lines.

“Okay, uh… I now pronounce you married!”

The boys cheered and threw flower petals in the air. After the kiss, everyone huddled around the fireplace to warm up and enjoy the awaited food. While the others reached for tacos, Craig picked up a handful of flower petals and tried to balance them on the tops of the frames of his family members. Tweek walked to his side to do the same, then the others placed their plates down to also grab flower petals.

“I know you guys wanted a better wedding for us,” Craig told the pictures. “But we did the best we could.”

“I hoped that you enjoyed watching the wedding,” Tweek smiled, holding Craig’s hand. “And… I’ll be sure to avenge you.”

Surprised, Craig pulled Tweek into a hug. “ _We’ll_ avenge them,” he told Tweek. “We’ll find who did this and defeat them for my family and for us.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My bf actually proposed to me after a funeral (weird, but I said yes anyway), so the idea for this chapter has been planned out for a while now. Just a fun fact. We’ll return to our regularly scheduled suffering next time.
> 
> As always, thank you for reading, and happy (late) Creek anniversary! 3 years for my wonderful boys!


	19. Identity Crisis

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Missed Christmas and New Year's. I've been hecka busy and I'm super sorry for the long update, but here it is! Please enjoy!

******12/08/2018 09:48 PM [Black Residence, Kitchen]**

Kicking the door closed behind him, Clyde brought the last food warmer back to the kitchen and set it on the counter. As soon as the warmer was out of his hands, Token pointed to the disaster in the sink, and the dejected Clyde knew better than to claim that he was too tired from all of the food preparations to skip out on dishes. He mumbles under his breath about Token’s family not hiring a maid, and Token smacks the back of his head.

“It’s like they’re the ones married,” Craig whispers to Tweek, who is currently wrapped in his arms as they sit at the kitchen table.

“Are you jealous, babe?” Tweek teases. “Should I smack you for not doing the dishes?”

“If anyone’s doing the smacking around here…”

Craig ends his innuendo there. Under normal circumstances, he would have taken Tweek away for post-wedding activities, but just the thought of doing anything more than the wedding formed a pit in his stomach. Not after the events of today.

“Hey, um…” Tweek began.

He gave Craig a look of concern rather than arousal, and Craig realized that he must have been thinking the same thing. He wasn’t surprised, considering how Tweek didn’t want to do anything since their anniversary after countless incidents of destruction and despair. He was fine with it, even more so now since he didn’t think it would be fun to suddenly think about his dead family in the middle of sex.

“Don’t worry. I’m not in the mood either,” Craig assured as he ran his fingers through Tweek’s hair.

“Sorry for not being in the mood lately,” Tweek apologized. He knew Craig would never pressure him, but the idea of them never doing anything while their time was limited was upsetting to him.

“Nice of you g-guys to not f-f-fuck in Token’s house,” Jimmy grinned, placing another slice of cake on the table and taking his seat.

Token’s head spun and he approached the couple with folded arms as soon as he heard Jimmy’s words.

“I had to convince my parents to let you guys stay here for a while. Do _not_ do anything that will get you kicked out.”

“Convince?” Tweek questioned, tilting his head. “I thought we were just spending the night. Could’ve just said we were sleeping over.”

Craig pressed his lips together and darted his eyes to the side to avoid Token’s accusatory gaze.

“Someone…” Token began as he stared Craig down. “Had to bluntly tell my parents what happened after the funeral. Now they think you guys are being targeted, which is true, and now…”

He paused when he heard his dad walk into another room upstairs. The boys eyed him curiously when Token faced the ceiling, then Token continued his explanation once he was certain that his parents weren’t listening in.

“Sorry. Anyway, they want to look into the whole situation. They want to talk to the police.”

Tweek’s eyes widened, but he didn’t know how to respond to the news. He turned to Craig, who just sighed.

“To be fair, they asked where Mom was since I told them we were using their backyard to get married in. They would’ve asked why we were getting married behind her back _and_ why we chose to do so right after Dad’s funeral.”

Token hummed understandingly and pat Craig on the back.

“Yeah, that’s true…” Token agreed. “I mean, we were running around with cake and decorations. I don’t know how we could’ve explained that.”

“But what would the police tell them?” Clyde wondered, returning back to the previous issue.

The couple recalled both the police station and the hospital showdown. The rest of the world might not have known that they were the ones being chased by the police, but that could easily change if the Blacks decide to snoop around.

“Hey…” said Token, noting their pained expressions. “It’s been a pretty rough day. You guys should get some rest.”

“Thanks,” Craig smiled.

He took Tweek by the hand and led him to Token’s room. The two grabbed pillows and blankets from Token’s closet to make a small bed for them on the floor, and once it was finished, they collapsed into it immediately. Having to wake up early for the funeral and not napping since then left the boys exhausted, and their eyes felt much heavier the second they were snuggled together in their nest of blankets. They tossed belts and suit jackets towards the closet and made themselves as comfortable as they could get while sleeping on the floor.

Tweek forced himself to stay awake just a little bit longer to gaze at his ring. He nuzzled his head into Craig’s chest and held his hand above them.

“Official Tucker,” he sighed dreamily.

Craig brought his hand down and intertwined their fingers.

“Go to sleep, Mr. Tucker,” Craig chuckled, pressing a kiss to Tweek’s lips. “We got a lot of shit to deal with tomorrow.”

Tweek closed his eyes for a few seconds, then snapped his head back up, which startled Craig.

“Stripe!” he cried out. “No one is home to take care of him!”

“Ah, fuck! Trish usually takes care of him while we’re gone!”

“We’ll pick him up tomorrow,” Token assured as he walked into the room. “Just stay here where it’s safe.”

The couple sighed as they remembered Tweek’s words: _“No one is home”._ Even if they were the ones to pick up Stripe tomorrow, they were sure that entering the house would be too depressing for them to bear.

* * *

**12/09/2018 11:13 AM [McCormick Residence, Living Room]**

Just as Kenny opened the front door, he found Karen kneeling a few feet away as she tied the laces of her boots. He folded and slipped the packet of papers he was holding into his pocket.

“Where are you going?” Kenny asked in an authoritarian tone. He then realized how unnecessary that was, but Karen didn’t question it.

Karen stood up and pressed down the creases in her jacket. “Tricia hasn’t texted me at all since the funeral, and she won’t answer my calls. I’m gonna check on her.”

“She might still want to be alone,” Kenny explained. “Nothing against you, I’m sure. Maybe if you don’t see her at school tomorrow, then you should visit her.”

“But I still talked to her ever since she found out about her dad…” Karen pointed out. “Why does she suddenly not want me around?” She bit her lip, then pulled out her phone to stare at her empty notifications.

Kenny sighed at his gloomy sister, then ran his fingers on the pocket where the paper was. He glanced at the front door, then turned back to Karen.

“Well… I’m stopping by her place to talk to Craig and Tweek. You can come with—”

“Yay!” Karen cheered. She wrapped her arms around Kenny’s arm and dragged him out the door.

As they walked, Kenny noticed how quickly Karen’s cheeriness was replaced by her initial gloominess. Like her, Kenny hadn’t heard from Craig or Tweek since the funeral, though he didn’t expect them to say anything anyway. He figured that the two were holed up at home, which would be perfect considering how urgently he needed to speak with them.

“Are Craig and Tweek not talking to you either?” Karen guessed.

“No,” Kenny lied since he hadn’t said anything to them since their battle with Stan and Kyle. “I just wanted to check on them, like you.”

Karen began to walk with her eyes on the sidewalk.

“I’m sure they’re all fine… I hope.”

When they reached the Tucker house, Karen politely knocked on the door. Instead of standing confused at the lack of an answer, she pulled out a key that Tricia gave her.

“Wait…” Kenny warned, holding his hand in front of the doorknob. “Something’s weird.”

“Oh, right. I should use the doorbell.”

“No, it’s just…” Kenny pressed his ear to the door. “It’s way too quiet in there. None of them are home?”

“I have a key, Kenny,” Karen explained nonchalantly. “Tricia and her mom said it’s fine. Just don’t be noisy in case they’re sleeping.”

She unlocked and opened the door, but Kenny insisted on being the first to check inside. Feeling Kenny’s paranoia, Karen grabbed onto Kenny’s sleeve as he walked into the living room. She closed the door behind them, then searched the room for any signs of Tricia.

“She might be upstairs,” said Karen. “Let’s go see.”

The house was too quiet for Kenny to agree, but he followed her anyway. They made sure to tiptoe up the stairs, even though the creaking floor would’ve given them away.

“Tricia?” Karen called out as she opened Tricia’s bedroom door.

The room was empty. Tricia wasn’t one to clean her room well, but she wasn’t a complete slob either, so a pile of clothes stacked on a chair and an unmade bed were the only signs of a mess.

“Looks the same as the last time I was here,” she noted.

“When was that?”

“Uh… before the funeral. Two days ago?”

Kenny hummed, then headed for Craig’s room. He turned back to have Karen follow, but she was busy wandering around Tricia’s room.

“She’s not here, Karen,” said Kenny. “Let’s check Craig’s room.”

Kenny knocked on Craig’s door, and as expected, there was no response. He opened the door to find Stripe squeaking excitedly from the sight of another person.

“Aw, poor thing!” Karen cooed. “He’s lonely.”

Stripe began scratching at his cage, begging to be let out. Kenny glanced at the food bowl and noticed that it was empty.

“Lonely and hungry,” Kenny noted. “I get that they’re depressed, but don’t starve your pets.”

He dug around Craig’s closet for something to feed Stripe when his eyes fell upon a half-empty bag of premium guinea pig food on the floor. He picked it up and handed it to Karen, who was holding her hands out so she could be the one to feed Stripe.

“When Craig and Tweek are gone, Tricia babysits Stripe. She lets me feed him sometimes.”

“Ah,” said Kenny.

He found it strange that Stripe’s bowl was empty, and that he was begging for food as if he was starving. He didn’t know much about Stripe, but he did know that Craig loved him, and he loved that Tweek bought Stripe for him, so Craig would never starve Stripe on purpose. He wondered if the couple decided to go into hiding to avoid any more users.

“Guinea pigs are a lot of work,” Karen explained as she popped a treat into Stripe’s mouth. “You know they can die if you don’t feed them in like, three days?”

“Morbid, but interesting…” Kenny replied.

He briefly left Karen to wander into the bathroom. There, he found blue, green, and pink toothbrushes in an organizer by the sink, and he could easily tell which belonged to whom. He picked up the blue toothbrush and flicked the bristles to find that there was no moisture. He did the same for Tricia’s with the assumption that she was the type to brush twice a day, but the results were the same. Neither of them was home this morning, nor were they home the night before.

“No one really is here,” Karen sighed as she entered the bathroom. “They probably went out for breakfast. Let’s just go home—”

The siblings froze at the sound of the door opening downstairs. Kenny whispered for Karen to hide in the bathtub while he locked the door, turned off the lights, and pulled out his gun. He waited with his heart thumping against his chest as he pressed his ear against the door.

The voices downstairs were faint. The intruders seemed to be whispering to each other as well, so Kenny had to strain for hints. He listened to footsteps coming up the stairs and flipped off the safety switch on his gun.

“Kenny…” Karen whispered, clutching onto the shower curtain. “Who is that?”

Kenny shushed her and waited for the intruders to make it up the steps. For a moment, there was whispering, so he decided that he could be quiet enough to unlock the door and peek through the crack. Before he could, he heard footsteps approaching the bathroom, so he stood quietly and tried to squeeze himself into the soon-to-be small space behind the door. Karen, terrified, lied down on the bathtub floor and covered her eyes.

Once the door opened and the light was turned on, Kenny pointed his gun at who he quickly realized was Clyde, and the two of them screamed at the sight of each other.

“What’s happening?! What are you doing here?! Why do you have a gun?!” Clyde shrieked. He brought a steel pot lid as his only line of defense, which he held in front of him.

“Oh shit, sorry!” Kenny apologized. He lowered his gun and raised a hand for assurance. “Karen wanted to see Tricia because she wasn’t texting back. Why were you guys whispering?”

Token and Jimmy joined the group, but Karen, believing this to not be her business, remained hidden behind the curtains.

“Everyone but Craig and Tweek were murdered,” Token explained. “We came to pick up Stripe, but we thought some people might come searching though the house, so we didn’t want to make it obvious that we were here.”

“If you thought you could be killed, then why would you come—” Kenny began before he was interrupted by the sound of Karen pushing the curtains aside.

“All of the Tuckers are… dead?” she asked, her voice cracking. “Even Tricia?”

The boys couldn’t react to Karen suddenly appearing after hearing her words. They turned their solemn gazes to the floor, unable to tell her the truth. Kenny took Karen’s hand and had her sit on the edge of the bathtub. He brought her head to his chest and held her.

“Do you know how they were killed?” Kenny asked softly the group.

“After the f-fuu… the f-fuuu… the funeral,” Jimmy explained. Craig said both his m-mom and sister were shot.”

“Out of nowhere, too,” Clyde added. “Probably snipers or something.”

“But why his family?” Kenny wondered aloud as he continued to rub Karen’s back. He tried to imagine the scene as it was vaguely explained.

 _Craig’s dad was killed by Stan because he ran in front of his knife,_ he recalled. _After the funeral, Craig’s mom and sister were apparently shot by an unknown person, possibly a sniper. Craig and Tweek saw it happen, but they couldn’t see who did it. If those two were at the scene, but they weren’t directly targeted…_

“This is just my take. I think… whoever killed the Tuckers was trying to provoke Craig and Tweek.”

“Provoke?” Clyde questioned. “Why?”

“You know why,” Jimmy sighed. “Someone was hired t-to kill them.”

The boys eyed Karen for a moment, not knowing how much she knew about the game. She was too busy resting her head on Kenny’s chest with light tears streaming down her eyes to register the way they danced around the topic.

“Well, it worked,” said Token. “Those two are out for revenge, but my parents are trying to investigate the situation right now.”

Kenny’s ringtone interrupted the conversation. He fished his phone out of his pocket and answered the call.

“Got another job for you, Mysterion,” said Red. “I’m at the station speaking with the Black family about the murders reported yesterday. I need you to come back here for a quick briefing.”

“You got it,” Kenny replied. He waited for Red to end the call before putting his phone away.

“Who was that?” Jimmy asked.

“Boss,” Kenny answered. “Got more work to do.”

“Can you take me home first?” Karen requested in a small voice, still shaken from the news.

Kenny nodded and pat her back. He then took her hand and helped her to her feet.

“We should get Stripe back to Craig,” said Clyde. “See you around, man.”

The guys all waved goodbye as they headed for Craig’s room to grab Stripe. Kenny watched them for a moment, then led Karen out of the house.

* * *

**12/09/2018 12:01 PM [Black Residence, Guest Room]**

Craig’s head perked up from Token calling out, “we’re back” from downstairs. He and Tweek placed their controllers on the floor and hurried down the stairs.

“Got ‘emmm!” Clyde and Jimmy announced as they held up Stripe’s cage and food.

Craig opened the cage and took Stripe out. “I can’t believe I almost forgot about you!” he said in a mildly cutesy tone as he held Stripe by his face. “You would’ve been such a good ring bearer!”

“Hi, Stripe!” Tweek joined in with an obviously cutesy voice. “We’re so sorry we didn’t bring you to the wedding. We’re gonna feed you right now, so don’t you worry.”

“Oh, actually…” Token began. “I think Kenny might’ve fed him. Or Karen. They were at your house when we got there.”

Craig raised an eyebrow. “Why were they there?”

“Kenny said that Karen wanted to see Tricia. She ended up finding out what happened to her,” Token explained.

Though Craig didn’t disapprove of Tricia giving Karen a key to their house, he figured that she might eventually walk into a conversation that she shouldn’t know about while the game was in session. This was one of the things he was afraid of happening.

“How’d she take it?” Tweek asked.

The boys’ silence was a good enough answer for Tweek. “Not surprised,” he mumbled. “Are they still there?”

“Uh… Kenny got a call from work, so he had to leave,” said Token. “Mom and Dad left for the police station earlier, so maybe Kenny got a call because of that.”

“If he did, then he might come to talk to us about how Mom and Tricia died,” said Craig. “Unless you already told him what happened.”

“We did,” Jimmy confirmed. “Actually, he said… he s-said… that whoever killed them was trying… trying to provoke you. Might be, I mean.”

“Game related, for sure,” Craig claimed, nodding. “He might be able to find out who was behind this, with his connections and all.”

He noticed Tweek looking around the house. Tweek stared at the staircase, the second floor, and the front door. Concerned, he placed his hand on Tweek’s shoulder and tilted his head.

“We probably shouldn’t be talking about this here,” Tweek whispered to Craig. He knew Token’s parents weren’t home, but he still felt uneasy.

Craig bit his lip. They didn’t really speak to Kenny during the funeral, so the last time that they have heard anything from him was after the fight with Seventh. He didn’t know what Kenny was doing at his house, and he definitely didn’t know what Kenny would possibly want to talk to him about, but part of him urged him not to check his diary for answers. Not in front of everybody, anyway.

* * *

**12/09/2018 12:12 PM [Park County Police Station, Chief Marshall’s Office]**

After dropping off Karen at their house, Kenny walked into Red’s office as instructed. He still had to wear his Mysterion mask, though that was the only part of his costume that he wore. He stopped questioning it.

Red was sitting at her desk with papers scattered around her. When she heard the door open, she gathered the papers and slipped them into a closed folder.

“Have a seat,” she said, holding out her hand to show Kenny the chair in front of her.

Kenny eyed the file on the desk and wondered if it contained the details of his next assignment. Normally, she would hand him the file as soon as he sat down, but it remained under the clasped hands she rested on top of it.

“As I mentioned earlier, I spoke with Steve and Linda Black. Craig and Tweek Tucker are currently under their care, but because this came to be after all of Craig Tucker’s immediate family members were killed in such a short time span, they have questions about his relation to anything dangerous. Basically, they want to know if he’s being targeted, and if so, by who.”

“Heard the same thing from their kid,” Kenny replied. “The murders and the targeting, I mean. Well, possible targeting.”

Red stared at Kenny for a moment. “It’s diary related, isn’t it?” she questioned softly, eyeing the door for any eavesdroppers.

“Wouldn’t be surprised,” said Kenny in an equally quiet tone. “Tucker’s dad was killed by users. Accidental. Anyway, they’re all dead now.”

“You’re referring when I told you about the U-Stor-It, aren’t you? And you tampered with the crime scene so the Tuckers wouldn’t be questioned about their involvement.”

“Actually, co-murderer did most of the tampering. Memory cards destroyed. All them. I just, uh...” Like Red, Kenny looked back at the door. “...you know. Cleaned up and stuff.”

Annoyed, Red groaned and pressed her fingertips to her temple. “This stupid game is supposed to end on December 29th,” she muttered. “Hopefully we both don’t end up getting arrested before then.”

“Then why are you helping?”

“Because fucking Wendy said that she wants those two to win because she wants to make up for unfairly hunting them down. I don’t know what she sees in them, honestly. She should’ve won, but I’d rather take that charity guy than two teenagers that get trigger happy when the other is threatened.”

Kenny raised an eyebrow. “Charity guy?”

“Oh, did I say that? Sorry. I meant that he runs an orphanage, but I couldn’t remember the title for someone like that. He does run a lot of charities, but none of the money goes to his place, which is weird.”

“Maybe Mayor is paying him for his good deeds?”

Red shrugged, then held up her chin with her hand. “He’s a nice guy. Anyway, just help your friends win, but if you get caught doing something illegal, I won’t bail you out.”

“Fair,” Kenny agreed.

“Anyway, back to the Tucker murder case. You’re not doing it.” She cut off Kenny’s open mouth of protest with a raised finger. “Another investigation team has taken over. You’ll just have to sit this one out.”

“I mean, will they at least tell Craig who killed them?”

“It’s government matters, now,” Red explained. “Confidential. I can’t say anything else.”

“You said you’ll help me—”

“I said I’ll look the other way,” she whispered. “If you get arrested, that’s on you.”

Kenny huffed, but he knew there wasn’t anything he could do. “Well, thanks anyway.”

When he left the office, he continued to walk all the way back to his house without stopping for anything he passed by. His dad was sitting on the couch watching television when he opened the door, but neither gave the other any sort of greeting. Once he was safe in his room, he figured that he could spend this free time working on his personal investigation, so he pulled out the folded packet that’s been sitting in his pocket all morning.

“What the hell is going on…?” he whispered, squinting at the packet.

The packet contained information on weeks of DNA research, but even after weeks of extracted teeth, dried blood, and stray hair collecting, the results didn’t make sense to Kenny. He did all of the work, so now it was his turn to find some answers. When he plopped onto his bed, he held the phone above him, trying to decide when the best time to talk to Craig and Tweek would be.

* * *

**12/09/2018 05:23 PM [Black Residence, Guest Room]**

Once Token and Clyde left to take Jimmy home, Craig and Tweek returned to the guest room. It was difficult to find a moment alone when the guys wanted to hang out for the past few hours, but this time wasn’t going to be spent on cuddling or sweet talk. A previous entry in Craig’s diary told him that Kenny planned to call him later that day, so he went ahead and texted him first. He added Tweek to the chat so he could say something as well. Just from pulling out his phone, the static played as usual.

 **Craig:** what did you need to call us about   
**Kenny:** just us and tweek? not gonna add the guys?   
**Craig:** if you call they’ll question us. you’re not gonna talk about my family are you   
**Kenny** : okay well first of all i just wanted to start off by saying   
**Kenny:** you guys got married w/o telling me? rude   
**Kenny:** toke’s parents told detective red and she called u tweek tucker   
**Tweek** : I don’t know how that’s relevant to the recent murders, but whatever Token’s parents. Also, sorry about not inviting you. We thought that you’d find out about Tricia, and we didn’t want you to tell Karen so soon.   
**Craig:** well she found out anyway and we heard she didn’t take it well.   
**Kenny:** i get where youre coming from. tbh i wouldnt be able to keep that from her if i found out that way   
**Craig:** anyway what did the detective say   
**Kenny:** its not my case apparently. or hers. said that this became an fbi issue   
**Tweek:** WHAT?? THE FBI SHOULDN’t GET INVOLVED   
**Kenny:** actually she said govt but i assume she meant fbi. or cia? always get those mixed up. anyway govt took the case.   
**Kenny:** oh wait she just said it was confidential. i just assumed that meant govt issue. like town govt not like the president   
**Tweek:** STOP ASSUMING   
**Kenny:** ok well thats that. i dont know who killed craigs family. but i do have some info about something thats been stressing you out for like a month

Tweek put the phone down on his lap for a moment to turn to Craig. The two began mouthing out a conversation silently, and they both understood what the other was trying to say.

“Is he talking about…” Tweek pretended to shovel dirt.

It took a second for Craig to understand, but once he did, he nodded his head vigorously. “Ask!” he mouthed out, pointing to the phone.

 **Tweek:** The results are in???? What took so long?   
**Kenny:** lab was slow and i did the test twice. the results didnt make sense the first time   
**Craig:** what do you mean they didn’t make sense   
**Kenny:** ooohh boy **  
** **Kenny** : i mean i dont think i should tell you this under someone elses roof u know? not something you want to have someone listen into esp when his parents are investigating u guys   
**Kenny** : we’ll meet somewhere private ofc

Tweek turned to Craig again for confirmation. There was a gleam in his eye that showed Craig that he wanted to meet with Kenny, but he clearly didn’t think of the consequences.

Craig sighed. “He’s right, but… if someone really is after us, they would follow us around if we’re outside.”

“I mean yeah, but…” Tweek began rubbing his thumb on his phone case. While he did this, Craig continued texting to explain the situation to Kenny.

 **Craig** : we’ll get killed if we go outside.   
**Kenny** : ill bring you guys a disguise no worries. besides im a detective technically. i have a weapon

Craig turned to Tweek and hummed. “What do you think?” he asked. “I still think it’s dangerous.”

Tweek sat down on the bed and leaned back. “I know it’s dangerous, but… I just…”

He felt the bed dip as Craig lied beside him. He held his palm open and let Craig slip his fingers between his own.

“I just really need to know what he found out. I need that peace of mind,” he continued. “I mean, if we’re outdoors, there’s a low chance of us getting trapped anywhere, right? And Kenny promised that we’d meet somewhere private.”

“Do you trust him?”

“I mean… He’s keeping this secret for us. Not even the guys know anything, so… I guess I do trust him.”

Tweek was hesitant to say so, but Kenny investigating his biggest worry was a huge favor that he didn’t even have to do. Since no one had tried to arrest him yet because of the bodies, he knows that Kenny was going out of his way to protect his secret for him. He had to trust him, at least.

 **Tweek** : Bring us something to defend ourselves with too. We couldn’t bring anything to where we are.

He structured his texts carefully in case anyone was reading them. He trusted Kenny, but he didn’t know where he was at the moment. There might just be some nosy passerby that could peek at his phone.

 **Kenny** : cool. see u guys tomorrow then

Craig pocketed his phone, but Tweek continued to stare at the texts until who he believed was Token knocked on the door. He sat up and opened it, only to find Clyde blinking at him in surprise.

“You hardly ever knock,” Tweek pointed out.

“Oh, yeah. Forgot you guys were in here, and I saw the light on, so I thought it was someone else. Anyway, forgot my notebook.”

Clyde walked in without an invite and stood by the desk. He picked up a poorly treated notebook and stared down at it.

“You guys gonna be alright here by yourselves tomorrow?” he asked as he picked at the torn cover by the spiral. “It’s just that… I would’ve stayed behind too, but Token’s mom would’ve kicked me out.”

The couple tried to not make it obvious that they were planning to sneak out tomorrow through innocent faces, and Clyde staring at his notebook made it much easier. Clyde’s concern made them feel bad, however, so Tweek turned to Craig for an answer.

“We’ll be fine,” Craig assured. “We won’t leave this room.”

Clyde snorted. “I mean, get food and go to the bathroom, obviously. Just don’t go outside.”

Craig held out a fist, and a wide smile took over Clyde’s face as he hurried over to bump fists. He soon left with a wave, and once the door was closed, Craig fell back on the bed and pressed his palm to his forehead.

“God, do I feel bad,” he groaned.

Tweek shifted his eyes and held himself. “I’m sorry, I…”

“Just really need to know,” Craig finished. He reached over to rub Tweek’s lower back until he lied down beside him again. “I understand and respect that, so that’s why I’m going down there with you to support you.”

Tweek faced him and gave him a small smile. “I mean… I think he wanted us both down there anyway.”

Craig rolled his eyes and smirked. “The correct answer was, ‘thank you, Craig’.”

The eye roll was returned as Tweek suppressed a giggle. “Thank you, Craig.”

After a minute, Tweek swung his feet down and stood from the bed.

“Gonna use the bathroom. Be back in a bit.”

Craig replied with a hum, and as soon as the door closed behind Tweek, he checked his diary.

 **12/10/2018** **  
** **11:23 AM [South Park Woods, North Entrance]** **  
** Tweek was shocked about what he saw. He ran off.

* * *

**12/10/2018 11:03 AM [Shi Tpa Town, West Side]**

“Stop looking around,” Kenny warned with a hushed whisper. “Just keep walking straight.”

The boys did as they were told and tried not to focus on the curious glances of the people they passed by. Sunglasses and coats were normal in the bitter winter weather, but Kenny had given Yates’ washed Yolanda wig to Tweek and the black bobbed wig from when Red “accompanied” Stan and Wendy’s “date” to Craig. Paired with the fancy dinner party coats gifted to Token by his parents, the boys gave off the impression of two wealthy women strolling through a poor man’s town… minus the mismatching worn-out boots.

The three continued walking until they reached the woods, just as Craig’s diary predicted. He didn’t dare pull it out in public to confirm, so he and Tweek followed Kenny without question. With each step, Tweek fought off the urge to speak up, but he told himself before Kenny arrived at Token’s that he would trust Kenny. Unlike Craig, he remained oblivious to where they were going and what he was going to find out.

“There’s a big conference today, so not many cops around,” Kenny assured. “None really come in this area, anyway.”

Kenny found a suitable stop a few steps past the north entrance of the woods. He took a seat on the bench and pulled out the folded packet from his coat pocket.

“Everyone is either at work or school. I come to this area often, and people only pass by early in the morning and right before the sun goes down, so 5-6-ish. It’s Monday and it’s freezing, so people might not show up at all.” He held up the still folded packet in front of the couple. “Here’s what you guys want to know, but I can’t translate it well. Science-y talk.”

Tweek reached for the packet, but Craig darted his hand out to grab it first, causing the diary static to ring and both Tweek and Kenny to raise an eyebrow. Before Tweek could question the entry change, Craig unfolded the packet and began reading. Like Kenny mentioned, it was in a format that only a specialist could decode, though he decided to read quietly to himself anyway.

“DNA Test Report… Tweek Tweak?” Craig lowered the report and stared at Kenny. “Wait, what is this? Results for a fingerprint test?” He suddenly became angry at the thought of Kenny trying to prove that Tweek was the killer. “What, was there a murder weapon hiding somewhere, and you tried to see if it was Tweek’s?”

“What?! Let me see,” Tweek huffed as he grabbed the report and read to himself. He instantly became confused by the jargon used. “Sample, lat. incisor… Huh? I don’t understand these kinds of scientific terms… Pos… Positive? What’s positive?”

“No, you didn’t even read the whole thing. Look at it again,” said Kenny. He pointed to the packet while it was in Tweek’s hands. “I mean, I don’t know what most of that says, but I sure do know what “positive” means.”

“They gave you this without even explaining it for you?” Craig questioned in disbelief. “Like, they just expected you to understand this?”

“Fuck’s sake, dude, look at it!” Kenny demanded, pointing directly on paper this time. “It’s not a murder weapon, it’s—”

The three of them were caught off guard when a red shard fell from the sky and landed on the report. Tweek caught it in his hand before it slid off of the paper, then it began to glow, capturing everyone’s full attention.

“Hey, what—Tweek!” Craig cried out. “Tweek, what’s wrong?!”

Tweek clutched both the report and the shard in his hand as his mind left the conversation and his body dropped him to his knees.

* * *

██/██/████ ██:██ ██ [█████, █████]

At first, things were blurry, but the dark tint of his sunglasses was no longer there. All Tweek could see was a ceiling fan. Then, when he stood, he immediately wished that he didn’t.

 _“Who… who is that?!”_ he wondered as he stepped closer to the body of a stranger lying face down on the floor. He noticed how his body moved on its own, picking up the unresponsive stranger and turning him over. Their head rolled to the side. Their neck was freshly bruised, a soft red forming underneath the skin. The deed was recent, that much was clear, but most of all, their appearance was recognizable. Dull green eyes that were probably once a bright emerald. Soft, untamed blond hair. Pale skin with faint freckles scattered across.

It was unmistakable. This was the body of Tweek Tweak. The  ** _dead_** body of Tweek Tweak.

He could hear some distorted chatter in the background, and some of it was his own. Someone was speaking to him, most likely about the recent murder. He desperately hoped that this wasn’t his doing, but the one thing he heard himself say just had to be,

“I didn’t mean to.”

* * *

**12/10/2018 11:27 AM [South Park Woods, Entrance]**

“Tweek?” Craig called out, but Tweek continued to stare ahead with both the report and the shard gripped tightly in his hands. “Tweek! Babe, can you hear me?!”

**_Get out of there before he finds out everything._ **

Craig held up Tweek’s hand and tried to pry the shard out of it, but Tweek pulled away and started crawling backward from Craig and Kenny.

“No, please… Please don’t…!” he whimpered, shaking his head.

**_Get out of there before he starts to hate you._ **

Tweek pushed himself back onto his feet and began to run. Craig caught up quickly and grabbed his wrist, but Tweek struggled out of his grasp. Unintentionally, he pushed Craig onto the grass. With his wrist still healing, Craig couldn’t stop himself from holding his wrist to protect it and ended up falling on his back. Tweek stepped back, mortified about hurting Craig.

**_Get out of there before he leaves you to die._ **

“I—I’m sorry, I…!”

“What happened, babe?” Craig asked as Kenny helped him back up. “What was that red thing? What did it do to you?”

**_Get out of there before everything falls apart._ **

“No… No, please…” Tweek held the report and the shard to his chest and leaned forward as tears fell from his eyes. “Don’t come near me, please…”

Craig tried once again to reach out to Tweek. He pushed the long strands of the blonde wig away to cup his husband’s cheeks and press their foreheads together. They accidentally clashed sunglasses, but both tried to ignore the pain it brought to the bridges of their noses.

“Tweek… I think I understand,” he whispered. “There’s something that you know, and if you’re not ready to tell me, then that’s fine. We’re in this together, remember?”

_G E T  O U T O F  T H E R E  R I G H T  N O W_

Tweek shook his head and sniffled. He broke away once again and began sprinting into the woods.

“Tweek, come back!” Craig cried out as he chased after him.

Before following the couple, Kenny stared at the sky and squinted. Heidi appeared behind him and grinned, then flew above the trees to follow the boys.

Tweek ran aimlessly through the woods, hoping that he could escape from Craig. He briefly glanced at his hand to see that the shard had stuck itself to his palm, so he decided to check his diary. He read that Craig planned to use his own diary to find him. Finding the wig annoying from the way it kept flying in his face as he ran, he ripped it off of his head and threw it on the ground.

**_His devotion will soon end. Avoid him at all costs._ **

Craig also threw his wig away as he chased after Tweek. As predicted, he pulled out his diary and quickly glanced at the entries. _“7 trees in, make a right. Continue forward, then turn left at the creek.”_ He was aware that Kenny managed to catch up to him, but that didn’t matter to him at the moment. He had a husband to reason with.

**_Don’t let him catch you. Don’t let him know. Don’t let him see the truth._ **

Tweek checked his diary again and made a sharp right turn, which triggered Craig’s diary. Hearing the static made Craig realize what Tweek was doing, and he considered using his phone’s Find Friends app, but that would take too much concentration. Tweek would stray too far.

In the end, that didn’t matter because he could see the light at the end of the forest. He recognized this area. There was a bridge up ahead, and he would be able to see Tweek without the obstruction of trees.

Tweek continued to dart towards random trees, hoping to throw Craig off of his trail. His diary’s ten-minute increments only helped him that one time, so now he was left to count trees and decide how many he should pass before turning in a different direction. A left after three trees and a right after four. He made sure to make the pattern too sporadic to track.

Craig checked his diary again to see if he catches Tweek by the bridge, but his eyes widen at the first few words of the entry.

 **11:32 AM [Freemont Bridge]** **  
** Tweek drops his phone when he...

“Fuck, fuck, fuck! Tweek, stop!” he cried. “Come back!!!” Craig directed all of his energy into his legs to push them to run faster, paying no mind to how much his heart and lungs were hurting.

Tweek checked his diary to see if Craig ever catches up, but having his attention away from his path caused him to run blindly out of the woods and trip over a large rock. His phone flew out of his hand and landed on the grass, but Tweek tumbled off of the cliffside and fell into the river below.

“Holy fuck!!!” Kenny exclaimed.

“Oh, fuck! No, no, **NO!!!** ” Craig screamed. He tried jumping in after Tweek, but Kenny wrapped his arms around Craig’s waist and stopped him from jumping.

“Dude, wait! It’s fucking freezing! Besides, can you even swim with a broken wrist?!”

“Then you fucking jump down there and save him!” Craig shot back. He picked up Tweek’s phone and tried to find a way to save him. The grassy area across the bridge sloped down to the river level, so Craig started running towards it. His lungs begged him to take a break, but Craig pushed further, dismissing the pain.

“Craig, wait, it's okay!” Kenny called out after him. “Someone's already going to save him!”

From below, Gary and Dave sat by the river with fishing lures bobbling in the water when they heard a splash nearby. Dave stood in shock when he saw Tweek’s unconscious body float towards them.

“Dave, get the lures out! I’m going in!” Gary ordered as he handed him his rod. He kicked off his shoes and dove in the river to grab Tweek, then dragged him along as he swam back to shore. “Don't you worry! I've got you!”

“Hey!” Dave called out to Tweek. “Are you alright?”

Noting his lack of response, Gary pressed an ear to Tweek’s chest. “He’s not breathing,” he said. “Grab a towel from the truck while I perform CPR.”

Craig’s lungs finally gave in, forcing him to stop for a breath. He held his chest and breathed heavily as he dragged his shaky legs slowly down the slope. Kenny caught up with him and tried to help him down.

“It was Heidi again,” Kenny explained. “I saw her earlier. That red thing must’ve triggered something in Tweek.”

He looked at the sky to see Heidi floating in front of the bridge as she watched Gary save Tweek, prompting Craig to do so as well. He scowled at her, but he didn’t have the time or energy to raise his voice at her. He continued down the slope with Kenny and focused on the stranger that had his hands on his love.

Taking a deep breath, Gary began pushing down on Tweek’s chest in his attempt to resuscitate him. After a while, he tilted Tweek’s head back, pinched his nose, and blew into his mouth twice. It was enough to wake Tweek on the spot, and the blond responded by jolting up to cough out the water.

“Thank goodness, y—”

“You saved him!” Heidi announced gleefully as she floated towards the group. “You’re amazing, Eighth!”

Dave stared in awe at the floating woman before him. “Wow… A flying woman dressed in white. Are you an angel, miss?”

Heidi giggled, but Gary didn’t join in. He picked up Tweek and motioned with his head for Dave to bring the towel back to the van. Tweek, barely conscious, couldn’t register what was happening, much less fight off Gary.

“We have to get this boy away from that woman!” Gary explained as he placed and sat with Tweek in the back seat. “I’ll explain later, so just drive back home!” He held up the towel for Tweek to grab, and Tweek absentmindedly did so. Confused as to why Tweek was just staring at the towel, Gary attempted to push Tweek’s hands toward his shoulders to cover him with the towel. “Are you alright?” he asked. “Cover yourself with this so you won’t get cold. Actually, take my jacket and the towel.”

Tweek took Gary’s offer and piled the jacket on top of the towel with a small nod of thanks. He comprehended the situation enough to realize that he was being kidnapped, in a sense. However, at this point, he didn’t care. These people saved him and were taking him away from Heidi, but more importantly, they were taking him away from Craig. He looked at his hand again to see the shard still in his palm. Exhausted from everything that had happened, Tweek lied back in his seat and stared at Gary’s headrest until his heavy eyelids fell closed. He couldn’t hear Craig calling out after them, or rather, he tuned him out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All questions will be answered by the end, so don’t you worry your little heads. Anyway, Happy 2019, everyone!


	20. Guardian

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We’re so close to the end! So close to death! Hooray!  
> Also, I just realized that this is another fic of mine where Tweek falls into a river. I never said I was creative.

 

**12/10/2018 11:40 AM [Freemont Bridge]**

“Tweek!” Craig screamed as he and Kenny chased after Gary’s truck. “Get back here, you fucker!”

But with Dave speeding away to escape Heidi, Craig didn’t have a chance at catching up. His lungs burned when he pushed himself to continue the chase, and he eventually gave up to check his diary for answers. He noticed that Heidi was long gone, so he couldn’t question her.

“Good idea,” said Kenny, who watched Craig pull out his phone. “Where will we find him?”

Craig held up a hand to catch his breath before speaking, though he noticed that he had to scroll through hours of entries just to see how long walking around aimlessly would have taken them. A 1:30 PM entry revealed Tweek’s location to be at the Harrison Children’s Home. Neither of the boys knew where that was, and when Kenny tried to GPS the location, nothing showed up.

“Harrison Children’s Home… Where have I heard that before?” Kenny pondered. “Typing the name won't work, so what if it’ll come up as an acronym? HCH? Wait…” He recalled seeing that acronym before, but he didn’t know where exactly.

Craig gripped Kenny by the shoulders and shook him. “Call your boss or something! Maybe she knows where to find it! Don’t tell her Tweek’s been kidnapped, or she’ll bring a team over and ruin everything! Or what if they’ll ambush us?! Maybe we should bring a team!”

Despite Craig’s frantic babbling, Kenny understood what he was saying, and he was already dialing Red to find out where the Children’s Home was. He didn’t have time, nor did he think it was possible to calm down Craig.

“Mysterion?” Red answered. “Make it quick. I have to leave for an important meeting in five minutes.”

“She’s busy,” said Craig. “If she’s busy, she can’t help us! I’m gonna search the town!”

Kenny grabbed Craig by the hood of his jacket and held him in place. “This won’t take long, Chief. Just wanted to know if you’ve heard of a place called Harrison Children’s Home and if you know where it is. It won’t show up on Maps.”

Red searched the building right as Kenny explained the situation and ran into the same problem. She hummed curiously, but she then recalled something useful. “Wait just a second,” she instructed as she hurried to her desk and opened a locked drawer.

Kenny could hear someone entering her office and reminding her about the meeting, which was answered with Red’s, “One second.” He then listened to several pages of what he assumed was a binder being flipped through. Within a minute, he was sent a picture of notes from what he realized was Wendy’s old binder.

“Address is on that page. I have to go,” Red explained before hanging up.

Kenny zoomed in on the photo and showed it to Craig, who forced his way into his personal bubble. It didn’t take long for Craig to take the phone and read the notes aloud.

“The Eighth player is confirmed to be Gary Harrison. He is the co-owner of the Harrison Children’s Home, which is located on 712 Smithson Street. His diary is the Server Diary, which allows him to keep track of the children under his care. Each child, as well as his brother Dave, uses an imitation diary app, each with their own custom subject matter… okay, whatever, I got the address.”

Craig’s diary responded to the change, so he returned the phone and began searching for the address. He raised an eyebrow at how far the location was from where they currently stood. The location was on the outskirts of town, but it still remained within South Park’s borders.

“The rest of that stuff was important,” Kenny pointed out as he followed Craig on their estimated half an hour journey. “About Eighth and his diary. Want me to read it to you?”

Craig tuned him out to focus on finding as many shortcuts as possible. He ran for a few seconds, then he realized that he didn’t want to end up like Tweek for running without paying attention to the path. He changed his pace to a light jog, making sure not to lose Kenny as well.

Ten minutes of walking led Craig and Kenny back into Shi Tpa Town. The Children’s Home was on the east side of town, and without his wig, Craig hoped that he wouldn’t be targeted again. He still had his sunglasses, but that hardly covers anything.

“We should call a Lyft,” Kenny suggested with his phone already out. “Do you have the app? Money’s tight, so I can’t really—”

“My info’s on it,” Craig explained. “Don’t they send whoever responds first? What if it’s someone who wants to kill me? I can’t die without knowing if Tweek is alright.”

“Well put your hood on,” Kenny advised as he pushed Craig’s hood onto his head. “Tug on the strings so it covers your face more.”

“Why the hell didn’t you tell me that earlier?!”

“I didn’t think of that earlier. Jeez.”

Craig rolled his eyes and continued to follow the path. He knew it would be dangerous to check his diary regardless of the lack of people wandering the town at this hour, but he really wanted to see if Tweek was safe. Then there was the fact that he wanted to keep his focus on the path so he could see with his own eyes that Tweek was alright.

Kenny shoved his hands in his pockets and noticed the emptiness. The report was no longer there because Tweek took it, and if Tweek fell in the river, then he probably doesn’t have the report anymore. He still remembered the what the report generally said, though looking at Craig’s determination told him that Craig wouldn’t want to talk about it at the moment, especially since it played a part in Tweek’s erratic behavior.

He then wondered what caused Tweek to act that way. A red shard fell from the sky, courtesy of Heidi, that made Tweek freeze up and widen his eyes. Judging by Tweek’s reaction, the chances of him remembering something so terrible that he would run away from Craig were high, but what Kenny tried to figure out was what Tweek saw in the first place. He was begging Craig to stay away from him, so either Craig did something to scare Tweek, or Tweek did something that he knew Craig would hate him for. This occurred right after Tweek read the report that had him listed as the match for the corpse in his old backyard, so Kenny believed that there had to be a connection.

“By the way…” Kenny spoke up, ignoring his previous decision to not bring up the report. “What the hell was that all about? Tweek reading the report and running off.”

“I’m not gonna make any assumptions. If Tweek wants to tell me what happened, good. If not, I won’t pressure him. Either way, I’m bringing him back with me. That guy may have “saved” him, but he’s still a user, so I can’t trust him.”

“He fell in the river with the report, so I doubt it’s still readable. I can try to get a copy from the lab—”

“We’re not talking about this right now,” Craig insisted as he focused on the map. “I’m already stressing out about Tweek. Stop trying to distract me.”

Kenny kept his mouth shut and continued walking. For Craig’s sake, he kept an eye on their surroundings and his pocketed hand on his gun.

* * *

**12/10/2018 11:58 AM [Harrison Children’s Home, Living Room]**

Dave cleared the room of children playing while Gary led Tweek to the bathroom. The kids tried to see the boy following Gary, but Dave shook his head and led them to the backyard. Tweek held his towels close, still cold from his wet clothes.

“Don’t worry,” Gary assured. “I’ll bring you something to wear and wash your clothes. I’ll leave them by the door, so I’ll knock to let you know. Hurry and take a shower, alright?”

Tweek nodded and watched Gary leave. It was difficult to find any reason to be suspicious of him, considering how nice he was. The man just didn’t give off any kind of menacing aura. He was just a ball of sunshine, but the calming sunset on the beach kind, not the blasting 7 AM kid’s cartoon ruining your day off.

He looked around the room and noted untarnished white porcelain fixtures and spot free sky blue walls. A pleasant lavender smell wafted through the room from some air freshener plug-in. He passed by what seemed like more than five children in the living room, so he couldn’t imagine what kind of maintenance this house required. He wondered if this place was Gary’s home filled with adopted children or some kind of fancy orphanage. That aside, he was freezing, so a hot shower was calling to him.

Like Gary promised, the clothes were right outside the bathroom door. He swiped them off of the floor and hid back inside, not wanting to deal with any of the many people living in this house. Gary had left him a navy long-sleeve shirt and a pair of dark colored jeans that Tweek figured belonged to Dave, who was closer to his height. Upon tugging on the jeans and buttoning them, he noticed how much weight he had lost since the game started, which was unsurprising. Witnessing and causing deaths can really take a toll on your appetite.

Finally, he exited the bathroom. He found Gary in the kitchen refilling a filtered water dispenser, and when Gary noticed him, he poured Tweek a mug of water and led him into a guest room.

“I can grab you a snack if you’d like. Cheese and crackers, fruit… What would you like?”

“I’m fine, thanks,” said Tweek. He sipped on his water and took a seat on the bed while Gary sat in a nearby desk chair. From the corner of his eye, he could see Gary’s smile soften into an apologetic frown.

“I’m sorry for bringing you here so abruptly, but from my experience, the woman approaching us is very dangerous. I don’t know if you’ve seen her before, but she destroyed the high school that some of the children under my care used to attend. I just felt that I had to get you away from there as soon as I could.”

Tweek didn’t dare mention that he was the one Heidi was after that day in the event that Gary would change his mind and turn on him with his house of children. While he was coughing up the river water that he had swallowed, he heard Heidi say “Eighth”. Judging by Dave’s innocent reaction to her, he could only assume that Gary was the “Eighth” she was referring to. Despite being under the care of a diary user, he still couldn’t bring himself to suspect Gary’s intentions, which was unusual for him. Instead, he chose to play along.

“That’s okay. Thank you for saving me.”

He tilted his head at Gary, who was checking what Tweek assumed was his diary. Gary hummed at something he read, then locked his phone to focus on Tweek. He wondered if Gary suspected him of being a user at all.

“There was someone chasing after us earlier. They were saying, “Tweek”. Is that your name?”

“Yeah,” Tweek answered. He didn’t think there was any reason to lie, mainly because he didn’t want to be hounded with follow-up questions and end up contradicting himself.

“And those two following us… Were those your friends?”

Hesitantly, Tweek nodded. He stared down at his mug and imagined Craig’s pained expression as he watched him get taken away by strangers. But Craig wouldn’t be so upset if he knew the truth.

“I don’t mean to pry, but… How did you fall into the river?” Gary wondered.

“Tripped on a rock. Running. Wasn’t paying attention.”

“You must’ve been running from that woman. I’m so sorry, but I’m sure you’ll be safe with us here…” Gary whispered, “I hope”, which Tweek caught, but even Tweek knew they were never safe from Heidi.

“I hope so,” Tweek sighed as he continued to play along.

Noting Tweek’s sullen gaze at his mug, Gary placed a hand on his shoulder with a newfound smile.

“I have an idea. It’ll sound strange, but just bear with me for a second.”

He pulled out his diary and showed Tweek the app that Kevin developed.

“This app here was developed by one of the children— _sorry,_ he’s a teenager—under my care. It allows them to create a diary where they will post their experiences, how they’re feeling, anything they’d like. It’s like social media, but the posts are more personal rather than “for likes”. Really, it’s just a way for me to keep an eye on them.” Without hesitation, Gary showed Tweek his diary, which contained several tabs with names of the children. “If they’re feeling sick, lonely, or afraid, they’ll post it, and I’ll come to them.”

This reminded Tweek of Token’s diary app, which looked strikingly similar to Gary’s. From Gary’s description, however, it didn’t seem like Gary is even aware that other people can use this app. He didn’t want to mention that in case it leads to trouble.

“They can’t just text you and tell you that they need you?”

Gary chuckled. “To be honest, I wouldn’t be able to afford a phone payment plan for all the twelve children under my care. Most of them have old phones that my family and friends have passed down. Too much technology is bad for a developing child’s brain, and since many of the children are under ten, the diary app is really the only thing on their phone. Good thing the Mayor arranged for the town to have free Wi-Fi, right?”

“Oh, I remember that from a few years back. That was cool of her. Didn’t think it was possible to get a small town like this free Wi-Fi.”

“Right! The thing is, these diaries are special. They can let you see the future.” Gary selected a tab labeled “Filmore” and scrolled to an upcoming entry about a soccer ball deflating. “Many of the children like to choose a theme to write about and stick to it. Filmore writes about anything sports-related, Flora likes to write about space—”

“Oh, like Craig!” Tweek mentioned, then hunched over in defeat just from hearing his name.

“Ah… Craig was one of the boys chasing you, then?”

Tweek agreed through a groan.

“Oh… I didn’t mean… Actually, I shouldn’t keep this from you.”

Tweek raised his head curiously.

“The future thing I mentioned… Because I can see what everyone’s future posts are, I noticed that my brother Dave wrote about me dealing with someone at the door, and that someone was the person chasing us earlier. He’ll be here within the next ten minutes.”

“You didn’t tell me this sooner?” Tweek questioned. He was beginning to distrust Gary for keeping this from him.

“I was actually going to ask if you wanted to use this diary app so you can see things like this too.”

“No, it’s fine,” said Tweek. He didn’t need a second diary when the one he has caused so much trouble for him already. “Just… just send him away when you see him. Have me sneak out through the back or something.”

Gary noticed the wedding ring on Tweek’s finger when he held himself. He knew it wasn’t his place to do so, but he sensed relationship troubles that he didn’t want to leave unresolved.

“He’s your husband, isn’t he? You were running away from him?”

Tweek groaned again.

“Did he hurt you?”

“He would never… but I can’t say the same about me.” Tweek leaned forward to squeeze his eyes shut and try to blink away the upcoming tears. “I don’t want to see him. I can’t face him right now.”

“I understand,” said Gary, to Tweek’s surprise. “You don’t have to talk to him now, but you should. The downfall to most relationships is due to poor communication, and I wouldn’t want that to happen to a couple that cares about each other so much.”

“You’re gonna make me talk to him, aren’t you?”

“Of course not,” Gary promised. “I’ll open that door when he comes, but I’ll tell him that you don’t want to see him right now.”

It was unfathomable how kind this man was, but with a quick glance at the wall to his right, Tweek saw an array of crosses and framed bible quotes. Generosity, forgiveness, and understanding must run through this man’s veins.

Meanwhile, in the living room, Kevin was pitching character ideas to a half-attentive Davíd, who was tossing a soccer ball in the air repeatedly.

“No, dude, like… she’ll still be an alien queen, but she’ll have long red hair, you know?” Kevin explained with supporting hand motions to describe the hairstyle. “Obviously, she’ll be hot, but green, like Gamora from Guardians.”

Davíd snorted as he continued to play catch with himself. “So you want me to call up that new police chief and ask her to paint herself green for you, huh?”

“Dude, no!” Kevin scolded. He grabbed the ball from the air and took it away from Davíd. “Can’t believe you would even think that!”

The doorbell ringing distracted the boys from their small quarrel. Davíd stood to check the peephole, but once he saw Craig and Kenny standing on the porch, he quietly turned to Kevin, covered his mouth, and pushed him past the couches.

“Users!” Davíd hissed. He began power walking towards the windows to close all of the blinds, which ended up darkening the room. “How did they find us? Didn’t you delete this place off the map?”

“I did!” Kevin pulled up the maps app as proof. “If you type in the name, nothing will come up!”

“Hey!” Craig called out, banging on the door with his fist. “I know Tweek is in there! Give him back, and we’ll leave!”

From the guest room, Tweek frantically tried to leave the bed and cover the windows as well. Gary held him back and calmly shushed him into stopping.

“I’ll tell him what you need, as promised,” said Gary, but Tweek still looked unconvinced. He was trembling as he tugged on his hair, so Gary had to try and make him stop. “Just stay here, okay?”

Once Gary closed the door behind him, Tweek attempted to make an escape through the window, but he stopped to wonder if Craig might catch him leaving. He shoved his hand into his pocket for his diary, realized that it wasn’t there because this was a different pair of jeans, then immediately panicked.

“Oh god, where is it?!” he hissed. “Did that guy accidentally wash it? Of course not, that would’ve killed me. Did he take it somewhere?!” He considered questioning Gary before he opens the door, but the possibility of Craig seeing him scared him into keeping his hand away from the knob. Then there was the possibility of Craig having it, which was worse. He knew Craig wasn’t the type to use it to lure him out or even dare to break it, but he couldn’t bring himself to face Craig just yet.

On the other side of the door, Gary walked up to Davíd and Kevin, who were ready to convince him not to let in Craig. They blocked the front entrance for that reason.

“That guy killed Kyle!” Davíd claimed, turning his head briefly to scowl at the door. “Give him back that guy you brought here so he won’t kill you too!”

“Tweek isn’t ready to speak with him,” Gary stated. “And you shouldn’t make accusations without proof.” He attempted to walk around the boys, but they both guarded the door.

“I know he did it because I stopped one of their fights!” Davíd continued, earning curious looks from the other two. He wasn’t whispering this time, and he could tell that Craig was listening in from the sound of someone stepping closer and possibly pressing their ear to the door. “Kyle texted me weeks ago saying he might die that night, so I… I checked my diary and saw that Clyde was going to call a Lyft.”

“Shit, it’s that guy Kyle was dating!” Craig whispered to Kenny from outside. “He mentioned a diary. Is he the last user? Is he Eleventh?!”

“If he is, then it would really explain why he broke up with Kyle,” said Kenny.

“I was the one who brought Clyde to them and played sirens from my phone to scare them all away…” Davíd admitted.

Craig was furious when he heard this, but when Kenny stopped him from trying to break down the door, he heard Davíd’s next words, which made him drop his fist.

“...And even after all that, he still… He still died..."

Gary and Kevin paused for a moment and tried to process Davíd’s words. Meanwhile, Davíd stopped to take a breath and feel the remorse of not being able to save Kyle the second time. His exhaled breath was shaky as he fought back tears.

“Davíd…” Gary began, placing his hand on Davíd’s shoulder. “I’m very sorry that happened. Truly, I am. Just know that when I open that door, I’m not trying to let someone who hurt you inside. I’m just trying to explain things to a man whose husband I’ve stolen away. I understand that you don't trust him, so you can stand behind me.”

Davíd looked to the door, then stood behind Gary like he was told. Kevin did the same, and Gary, after taking a breath, opened the door.

“Where is he?!” Craig demanded, scowling at Gary. He tried peeking past Gary, but the boys were in the way. “I know you took him!”

“I assumed he was being chased by the woman in white, so I believed he was in danger,” Gary explained. “I’ve spoken to him and learned that, for one, that wasn’t the case, and two, why he ran from you in the first place.”

Craig’s eyes widened. “So you… He told _you?”_ He was in disbelief, but at the same time, he still wanted to know what happened to Tweek. The man before him made him feel no uneasiness, which relieved him to a small extent.

“Only a vague explanation, and I didn’t try to force him to say anything. He just told me to tell you that he doesn’t want to see you right now.”

“Well, he’s gonna have to make me leave himself,” Craig claimed as he tried to force his way past Gary and the others. Naturally, they stood in place, so Craig tried to push through Kevin, the weakest looking of the group.

Davíd grabbed Craig’s arm and tried to pull him back. “ _Leave,_ Tucker. Don’t make us call the cops for breaking and entering.”

“Don’t make _me_ call the cops for _you_ kidnapping my husband!” Craig threatened, pointing at Gary’s chest. “I need to talk to him. Let me see him, and I’ll drop this whole thing!”

Gary wasn’t fazed by Craig’s demands, but he stood by what he told Tweek earlier. “I want you two to work things out. If you’re going to speak to him, you need to calm down and speak to him with a level head.”

Kenny pushed Davíd’s arm away from Craig and pulled Craig back by the shoulders to calm him. “Dude, relax. This guy can be reasoned with. Let me handle this.” He walked in front of Craig and held his hands up before Gary. “We’re not trying to start a fight. My friend here has been stressing out for the past hour because his husband had a breakdown and fell off a cliff. He’s been running after him, had to stop because he was pushing himself so hard, tried to chase your car, then came all this way just to see him. Please either let him inside or convince Tweek to come here.”

Gary nodded understandingly and stepped to the side to allow Craig to pass. When he turned to Kenny, Kenny only waved to decline.

“I promised my boss that I’d come back to work after this,” he explained.

“Oh, well… See ya later,” said Craig.

When Kenny walked off, Gary walked Craig over to the guest room that Tweek was in and left the two alone to talk. Tears pricked at Craig’s eyes when he saw his husband back in bed a few steps away, clutching his blanket while taking short breaths to calm down. Craig blinked those tears away and held the boy tightly, only to find himself letting his tears fall anyway.

“I’m so fucking glad you’re okay…” he choked. Neither could breathe from how tightly Craig was hugging him, so he relaxed his hold and took a deep breath. There was something less than desirable to discuss during their heartfelt reunion. “I don’t want to pressure you into talking, but please…”

Tweek bit his lip. This was another moment where Craig was trying to calmly reach out to him when he deserved to be screamed at, but he couldn’t get himself to push Craig away. He didn’t want to leave Craig’s warmth just yet.

“I know you’re hurting, and I want you to trust me enough to let me help you. Please don’t run from me again.”

Tweek cringed at those words. He couldn’t even begin to try and explain himself, not that he could if he wanted to.

“I love you so much. I can’t bear to lose you. Please, honey…”

It didn’t take long for Tweek’s tears to finally fall onto Craig’s shoulder. “ I… I’m not your honey…” he claimed.

“Shh… Don’t say that,” Craig whispered as he stroked slightly damp blond hair. “I’m not mad at you, I promise. I’ll always love you no matter what.” He pulled away slightly to smile at his distressed and confused, as he believed, husband. “Let’s head home before the guys find out we left, okay?”

Tweek stared down for a moment and took a deep breath as he clutched the blankets again. “I’m… telling you this because I… I love you, and you have a right to know.”

The words were difficult for Tweek to say through his hitched breathing and sniffling, but Craig understood. He nodded, making sure to calm the boy with a smile and let him know that he’s on his side.

Tweek’s voice fell to a soft and tiny tone. “I…” he began as he held a splinted hand. “I remembered something… about the… about the report.”

 _Something awful,_ he thought, but those words didn’t come out.

“Yeah?” Craig acknowledged.

Forcing out the words was difficult. Tweek could hear the voices begging him to run away again or even just stay silent, but he forced them back down. He needed to tell Craig the truth, even though he didn’t understand the truth himself.

“I’m the one who… I… I was the one… who did it…”

But Craig didn’t appear upset, much less concerned in the slightest. He nodded and said, “okay. Thanks for telling me.”

Tweek’s head shot up. This wasn’t the screaming, crying, or disgust he expected. He was more shocked at the thought that this behavior has become so normal to Craig that he began to accept and ignore it.

“I mean, it’s not the first time,” Craig continued. “It really isn’t something to worry about—”

“No, Craig, listen…” Tweek interrupted. “The report, it… it said the match was… Tweek.”

“Honey, I understand. I’m not upset that you were the one—”

“That was Tweek in the backyard…”

By this point, Craig finally stopped to try and understand what exactly Tweek was trying to say, but naturally, he was confused. “...um, is there any reason why you’re speaking in the third person?”

Tweek took another breath, now feeling a bit impatient. He wasn’t aware of how strangely vague he was being and instead believed that Craig was in denial. “It’s not the third person!” he tried to explain. “I remember what happened, kinda! He looked exactly like me, but he...he had bruises on his neck! If that’s me, then who…” His hitched breath returned as he stared wide-eyed at the sheets. “Who am I…?

Like a good husband, Craig didn’t want to dismiss Tweek’s worries, but he still couldn’t understand what Tweek was trying to say. All of a sudden, Tweek is having an existential crisis and is going on about a dead person also named Tweek in the backyard of his old home. It just didn’t make sense. “Baby, you’re kinda confusing me…”

“I don’t really remember where I was, but there was a ceiling fan, and he was on the floor, and I was talking to someone, and I remember saying, “I didn’t mean to,” which—which means that I did it!”

To try and stop his supposed rambling, Craig placed his hands on the blond’s cheeks. “Sweetheart, it’s really hard to understand you right now.”

Frustrated, Tweek grabbed Craig’s shoulders. “Don’t you get it?! I’m not your sweetheart! Tweek is actually—”

Their conversation was cut off by Davíd banging on the door.

“Hey! Your fight is scaring the kids! Shut up!”

Gary pulled Davíd away from the door, and Davíd turned to him with a scowl. “Davíd, they need to talk things through. I’ll talk to them about the noise.”

“You let _murderers_ into our house!” Davíd hissed. “I told you that they’re the users that killed Kyle! You _have_ to kick them out!”

“Please let me deal with this,” Gary insisted.

Davíd huffed and left Gary be, but not too far. He watched from the kitchen to make sure those two users didn’t try anything. It would be suicide to kill a man in a house full of witnesses, but there was no way that Davíd was going to let the man he respected so highly be taken advantage of because of his kindness.

Gary knocked on the door. “I’m sorry about that, but please don’t yell at each other. Speaking calmly about your concerns always works best. Just call for me if you need anything!”

“Sorry!” Tweek apologized. He felt that, for the person who has been so patient with him for the past hour, he should at least respect the man in his own house. When he heard Gary walk down the hallway, he began keeping his gaze away from Craig.

“...so what are you trying to say, exactly?” Craig asked softly. “You’re not actually Tweek? How is that possible?”

“...I don’t really know, but… My memory’s all fucked up. The report said the body belonged to Tweek, and then I suddenly remember seeing someone who looks exactly like me, but they’re dead.”

“You remembered because of the red thing, right? Kenny said this was Heidi’s doing, so she might just be fucking with you again. I don’t know why it always has to be you, but that’s how she is, I guess.”

“She likes me because I’m a murderer,” Tweek muttered under his breath.

“Hey now, don’t say that. Now I’m positive that she’s doing something to you. Fucking with your memories, I bet.”

Tweek gripped his shirt this time. Nothing was making sense to him. He looked down at his hand to see that the shard disappeared, but since he already told Craig everything he saw, all he could think was, _“fucking finally”._

He began to think back to the scene and recall what he saw on the report, hoping there would be more clues there. “But… how does that explain the report that Kenny…”

It then occurred to him that the report was no longer in his possession, and judging from the way he jolted out of bed to search for it, Craig knew exactly what he was looking for.

“I watched it drift away when you hit the water,” Craig explained. “Even if anyone finds it, all of the ink would be washed off, right? Oh, wait, it would get soggy and dissolve. Anyway, it’s gone now.”

Tweek wasn’t satisfied with that answer. He wasn’t trying to get rid of any evidence, so not having the report only stressed him out more. There had to be something that could explain what he saw.

“...even her trick with the diaries… ‘Watch out for the first’ or something like that,” Tweek brought up. “She was warning people about me. Maybe somewhere in my fucked up memory, I did something that would make people cautious of me—”

“Tweek—”

“I told you, I’m not—”

“ _Yes_ , you are,” Craig insisted. He wasn’t a fan of the “impostor” theory that Tweek was trying to convince him of. There was a Tweek he knew and loved that was currently stressing over a dirty trick by a girl that won’t leave him alone, and that was the only Tweek he cared about. “I don’t believe any of this. You’re Tweek. You’re my husband. You’re the one I love. That’s all.”

Tweek expected this response. Craig was never a fan of things that didn’t make sense to him, and even when he tried to play along for Tweek’s sake, Tweek always knew that Craig’s mind was rejecting anything illogical. On the bright side, Craig insists on staying by his side, but somehow, that didn’t feel right. Tweek felt as if he was deceiving Craig somehow, and he didn’t like the guilt that brought him.

“...let’s get out of here and talk, okay?” Craig suggested. He was uneasy about talking under this roof the entire time he was there, but it wasn’t until now that he really felt that they have overstayed their welcome. “That guy, the blond guy, is a user. I don’t want to stay under the same roof as him.” He handed Tweek his diary back. “Don’t lose this again. I don’t want to lose you.”

Tweek couldn’t help but tear up again, but he scrubbed those tears away and started walking towards the door. He froze when he heard the doorbell ring, and Gary answered it immediately. Curious, he and Craig peeked through the slightly opened door to see two men wearing black suits on the porch.

“Afternoon, sir. We’re here looking for Gary Harrison. Owner of this establishment.”

“That’s me,” Gary answered. “Is there something I can do for you gentlemen?”

One of the suited men was tapping his pen on a spiral notebook. “You have a court hearing today at 4 PM. Charges for misappropriation of charity funds.”

“Misappropriation… No, there has to be a mistake,” Gary tried to explain. “Yes, I do run a few charities, but none are for my personal gain, nor do I use them to fund this home. This place is strictly funded by government funds, my own savings, and donations from my family. There isn’t… We weren’t running any charities for our own personal gain, I promise you that.”

“It’s true!” Dave insisted. “I’m his brother, Dave Harrison, and I swear that he’s telling the truth.”

“We help out too,” Davíd added, gesturing towards himself, Kevin, and a few other teenagers that had gathered in the living room. “He’s not forcing us to do this, either.”

“We have your financial records down in City Hall,” said the suited man. “You’ll have to plead your case there if we find any discrepancies with your statements. Please arrive early.”

The man handed Gary an envelope containing a folded subpoena before walking back to the car without another word. Gary closed the door behind him and stared at the subpoena in disbelief.

“That can’t be right!” Kevin claimed. “Maybe a fake charity is using your name to extort money out of people!”

“They said they have my financial records… Has one of my cards been stolen, and I just haven’t noticed?” Gary pulled out his wallet and counted his cards, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

“How about I come with you?” Dave suggested. “I can be a witness, or… I mean, I don’t exactly know if this is the kind of situation where you can bring in your own testimonials…”

“No, it’s alright,” Gary sighed. He folded the subpoena and slipped it into his back pocket as he walked towards the coat closet. “I’m sure I can explain myself to the judge. Hopefully, I’ll be back before dinner.”

“You’re leaving right now?” Kevin asked. “Your hearing isn’t until 4.”

“Maybe I can explain things sooner,” Gary hoped. “Don’t worry. I won’t let anything happen to this place.”

“Wait!” Tweek called out from the guest room. All eyes were suddenly on him, which made him want to hide back in the room, but he stayed put. “Sorry. You guys don’t like us, and we do plan on leaving right now, but don’t you think this is kind of strange? They usually won’t hold a court hearing on the same day that the defendant receives the statement.”

“It does sound like a serious case,” Gary pointed out. “It’s possible that a case like this needs to be addressed as soon as possible.”

“No, Tweek’s onto something,” Craig interrupted, but a text tone alerted Tweek and Craig to their phones. Tweek, who had gone without his phone for too long, was quick to respond.

 **Kenny** : get out of there. gotta talk to u guys. dont say anything else to them

“Kenny needs to talk to us,” Tweek told Craig.

“Well, bring him back here,” said Davíd. “We can’t let you go now that you’ve started this.”

“Davíd…” Gary warned, but he was interrupted by someone knocking on the door. He found Kenny on the other side, who was flashing his badge on the spot.

“PCPD matters,” he told them. He leaned to the side to wave Craig and Tweek over. “I need to take these two with me.”

The couple hurried over to meet with Kenny. Before Davíd could protest, Gary held an arm in front of him and shook his head.

“Be safe out there,” he told them and waved goodbye. “Oh, and come back tomorrow for your clothes. For now, take this.”

Gary handed Tweek the coat he was wearing, which Tweek hesitantly accepted. It felt strange to him to continuously accept this man’s kindness, especially when there was something very unusual about his court summoning. He was sure that Craig was going to address his family’s murder case being taken over by the government somehow being related to Gary’s case.

“Thanks again,” said Tweek as he threw on the coat.

As the three walked out, Tweek noticed how Craig had his hood tightened around his face, much like how Kenny used to when he was younger. It occurred to him that his disguise was long gone, and now he was exposed to the world as a target because Gary’s coat didn’t have a hood.

“You’ll be fine,” Kenny whispered. “You’re not gonna be targeted right now.”

“How do you know?” Tweek questioned, but he didn’t receive a response. Kenny focused straight ahead, though he still remained cautious as he glanced left and right every now and then.

The three left without looking back and walked all the way to the Black residence. Thankfully, no one was home yet, but the security guard stared them down, hesitant to let them back in.

“We wanted to talk to the police again,” Tweek explained. “They still didn’t have anything to tell us, though.”

“Sorry to hear that, boys,” said the guard. “Don’t worry. They’ll find the killer, I’m sure of it.”

The boys nodded at the guard and headed straight for the guest room. Kenny sat them down immediately and took a breath before speaking.

“I had to get you guys out of there,” he told them. “If you kept talking about your target theory, then those guys would’ve stopped Eighth from going to City Hall.”

The boys stopped for a moment and took off their jackets. Tweek looked down at his, which was the one Gary lent him, and worried over whether he was going to be alright or not.

“Does he have to go?” Tweek wondered. “I mean, if the charges _are_ real, then he should go deal with that.”

“No, it’s most likely fake,” Kenny replied. “Someone in City Hall is probably behind all this. Fake charges against Eighth, taking your family’s killer case from the police department, all of that. Question is, who?”

“So… you want Eighth to go down there so you can follow and see if you can find the person behind all this,” Craig guessed.

“That’s right,” said Kenny. “Davíd talking about his diary earlier… that was just a fake diary. He used the app like Token and the others did back then, but Davíd’s still works because it’s directly connected to Eighth’s server, which is his diary. Right, Tweek?”

“Yeah. He did tell me about his diary. Actually, he asked if I wanted to use it, too.”

“You said no, right?” Craig asked.

“Obviously. I don’t even know how that would work, especially since you had my phone the whole time.”

“I gave that back to you, right?”

Tweek showed his phone to confirm, then looked down at it. It wasn’t wet, so he assumed that Craig either wiped it off, or it didn’t fall in the river with him. His case was waterproof, but he didn’t want to take that chance.

“Back to what we were talking about,” said Tweek. “Gary is really nice. Like, I couldn’t find any reason to feel uneasy around him. I’d feel bad if you just sent him off to his possible death.”

Kenny didn’t know much about Gary’s personality, but he couldn’t think of a single person that would, as Gary stated, run an orphanage using their own pocket money and actually put effort into it. He thought back on his brief stay at the Greely foster care home and noted the stark contrast with Harrison Children’s Home. The children he watched play outside while he was eavesdropping on the suited men were so joyful and full of life. If he ended up at Gary’s place when he was younger, he’s certain that he would be so much happier today.

Now he was beginning to feel sorry for Gary and the plan he was about to put him through. Gary didn’t deserve this. Butters didn’t deserve this. He suddenly felt sick at the thought of, as Tweek said, “sending Gary off to his possible death”.

“I don’t like it either, but the truth is…”

Tweek and Craig eyed him curiously. Neither questioned how Kenny left before they all reunited and returned as soon as the suited men left. In reality, they just didn’t remember, considering everything that happened.

“As long as we don’t know who Eleventh is, we could be in some serious trouble,” Kenny continued. “I’m positive that they were the ones who, or at least they sent someone to kill your mom and sister, Craig.”

Craig furrowed his brow. He, too, came to that conclusion. At least for him, all he knew and cared about regarding Gary was that he let him see Tweek. Still, that wasn’t enough for Craig to have much sympathy for Gary being a guinea pig in Kenny’s plan.

“We’ll find out who it is once you send that guy to City Hall. Make sure to tell us as soon as you find out, alright?”

Tweek fidgeted with the fabric of the coat. He really didn’t like the idea of sending Gary down there, but it was better than him and Craig being the investigators. At least if he went by himself and was killed, he’d feel like that would be an opportunity to repent.

Craig snapped in front of Tweek’s face, knowing that Tweek was blaming himself from the regretful eyes he directed at the coat. “You’re not going down there,” he told Tweek. “It’s not true, and you need to stop thinking about it.”

The two glanced at Kenny, but Kenny stared down at the nails he was picking at to ignore them. They didn’t need to tell him what they were talking about because he already knew.

But he wasn’t going to address that just yet.

* * *

**12/10/2018 11:53 AM [City Hall, Mayor’s Office]**

A woman with dark hair that rested on her shoulders sat at her desk with an ignored pile of documents pushed to the side. She taps her pen on her written agenda, which lists a meeting with Chief Rebecca Marshall in the next few minutes. While waiting, she pulled out her phone and placed it on top of the agenda.

“A.D.V., locate the entries from today around 12:00 PM in Second’s diary.”

The phone lit up, and the woman’s request appeared word for word on the screen.

“Diary of the Second: December 10th, 2018. 12:14 PM. Location: Harrison Children’s Home, Outside. ‘Kenny and I find Eighth’s house. They won’t let us in.’ Next entry?”

“Next entry.”

“12:27 PM. Location: Harrison Children’s Home, Guest Room. ‘Tweek is safe, but he’s making illogical statements. He thinks he’s an impostor.’ Next entry?”

The woman leaned back in her chair. She wondered if the impostor statement was true, but there was no indication of it in any of Craig’s entries. She decided to continue listening.

“Locate keywords: black suit.”

“12:41 PM. Location: Harrison Children’s Home, Guest Room. ‘Two men in black suits claim that Eighth has committed the crime of misappropriating funds. He has to go to City Hall at 4 PM.’ Next entry?”

She hummed for a moment, then nodded, deciding that one more should be enough. “Next entry.”

“12:45 PM. Location: Harrison Children’s Home, Living Room. ‘Tweek tells everyone that he is suspicious about Eighth’s hearing.’ Next entry?”

“No. Thank you, A.D.V.”

“Your virtual assistant is still very impressive,” a blonde woman in a high bun commented as she entered the office. She opened a black leather portfolio and read the agenda within. “I’m surprised that you’ve denied high profile technological companies for the rights.”

“Siri is fine for the general public. A.D.V. is tailored to me personally, so I wouldn’t give the rights up for any amount of money.”

“An excellent decision, Madam Mayor. That aside, I’m here to let you know that Chief Marshall is being escorted here right now.”

As she said that, the blonde woman opened the door and allowed Red to enter. Red nodded at her, and the woman stood in the corner to oversee the meeting.

“Welcome, Chief Marshall,” said the mayor. “Please, have a seat.”

“Before we begin, I’d like to thank you again for this position,” Red brought up. “That scandal brought the department so much shame, but I assure you that I will do my best to regain yours and the town’s trust.”

“Yes…” the mayor began. She locked her phone and pushed it aside. “Actually, I’m relieving you of that position temporarily. Detective Daniels will take over while you will be my appointed bodyguard.”

Red was more curious about her new duty rather than being released from her current position. After she learned that the Tucker’s murder case was being taken over by the government, she figured that the mayor herself might just be concerned about everything that has been happening since October. Her being a self-appointed bodyguard must mean that the mayor fears the worst, and while she knew that the diary game was the cause of everything, she wasn’t sure how she would explain that to the mayor.

“As your bodyguard, is there anything in particular that I should be keeping an eye out for? Anyone who gave you a reason to need a bodyguard in the first place?”

She knew the mayor was a strong, brilliant, and capable woman. That’s why she voted for her two years ago. Now, the mayor is asking her to protect her when she had proved in those two years that she didn’t need any protection. This was serious, and Red wasn’t going to let her down.

“For now, these two.” The mayor pulled out a folder and opened it to a candid photo of Craig and Tweek at Thomas’s funeral. “They always seem to be around whenever disaster strikes. The South Park High attack, Chaos, the hospital attack, and recently, the murder of Laura and Tricia Tucker, both related to Craig Tucker. I have reason to believe that either they are being targeted by someone dangerous, or they were the ones who had carefully orchestrated this entire string of events for whatever purpose.”

Red put on her best poker face and nodded at the mayor’s words. She knew for a fact that Craig and Tweek weren’t a threat, but she wasn’t going to disprove the mayor’s theory without sound reasoning of their innocence. She was certain that this woman saw the couple as dangerous, so she was going to have to put their alliance aside for now.

“At 4 PM, I will be having a meeting with Gary Harrison. I expect you to be by my side when he arrives.”

“Yes, Mayor Meyers.”

“There are some forms I need you to sign for this position,” Meyers stated. “Williams has them. Go speak with her.”

Williams left the corner and searched for the forms to hand to Red. The two stood at the corner again while Meyers flipped through more of Craig, Tweek, and Gary’s entries. She searched in silence and occasionally eyed Red, knowing fully well about her knowledge of the diaries.

Her eyes lit up at an entry about Craig stopping Tweek from trying to investigate City Hall on his own. Gary’s attendance was also guaranteed, though he was going to be accompanied by Davíd and Nelly. All of this was perfect, and all of this was according to plan.


End file.
